CRIMINAL MINDS - THE EYES
by LadyJenDragon
Summary: The BAU is called to investigate the death of a Senator's aide that leads the team to an international assassin duo wanted by multiple agencies all over the world.


**CRIMINAL MINDS**

 **THE EYES**

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters of Criminal Minds but I will be taking them for ride. Buckle up my friends.

 **Author Notes:** I do enjoy a good mystery. While I'm not into spy movies or the like I do like a good assassin story, though I'm not sure if they're mutually exclusive. I won't bore you with physical descriptions of the already established Criminal Minds characters as I presume you watch the show. This story line takes place somewhere between 7th and 8th season. It's an arbitrary location as I chose the agents who were part of these seasons. I'm still getting used to the new guys and being without Morgan & Hotch.

 **CRIME SCENE, WASHINGTON D.C. HARBOR**

The interior room of the warehouse swarmed with local and FBI crime scene technicians, agents, and local police department detectives assisting with the initial investigation. Supervisory Special Agent (SSA) Aaron Hotchner, SSA Derek Morgan, and SSA David Rossi walked into the dimly lit room to begin. Hotch nodded toward SSA Emily Prentiss who had stood waiting just inside the doorway and moved across the room out of the way. Dr. Spencer Reid was already on-scene and bent over the victim to make observations near the victim's feet.

A naked male lay flat on his back with both arms tied to the headboard posts of a queen-sized bed that faced an exterior wall. A white sheet-tarp had been partially placed over body to preserve the crime scene from minor water leaks that resulted from the day's light rain showers. The words "I See You" was written on his chest with black paint. The body appears pale with burn marks on the inner thighs and on the bottoms of the feet. On the wall across from the bed are the words "I Have Seen You" was quickly scrawled, also in black paint.

Hotch glanced around. "What have we got?"

JJ entered the room from behind Hotch as she had arrived with Spencer and Emily in the other vehicle. "Desmond Schaffer, personal assistant to Senator Marlin Becker of Rhode Island. He went missing four days ago after a dinner with friends at a Georgetown restaurant. He was never seen again after he departed their company. Senator Becker reported Desmond missing the next day when he didn't show for work. However, the call came in last night where to find him."

Derek eyed the poor bastard. "Looks like the usual MO."

David Rossi stood near the wall out of the way of the crime scene techs working around them. "It's been a long while since we got one of these calls."

Hotch looked to Rossi. "We know it's her for sure?"

Derek agreed with David on this one. "Doesn't feel like a copycat."

Emily pointed to the wall. "It's her all right."

Detective Steve Malcolm, standing by the door since the BAU arrived on scene, looked to Hotch for explanation.

Hotch noted the Detective's interest. "Your victim was killed by an international assassin known as 'The Eyes'. She leaves the words 'I See You' written somewhere in the victim's home or business twenty-four hours before the victim is abducted. She works mostly in regional areas for a period of time then moves on. She never stays for more than four weeks at a time."

Detective Malcolm nodded he understood. "How many bodies are we to expect?"

JJ glanced at the middle-aged detective. "She's an assassin, Detective. It really depends on the contracts she picks up in the local area."

Derek Morgan hated trying to track down international assassins. "People want other people dead for various reasons. She's just a contract for hire."

Malcolm was a man of few worries in his world. "How do you know this assassin is a woman?"

Hotch answered. "She was spotted leaving a dump site three years ago by an off-duty officer in London."

Spencer stood up following his examination. "Over the course of twenty plus years, fifty-five percent of The Eyes targets have been males with either high level executive or political positions. Forty-three percent of her victims consist of women, also associated with either some executive position, political post, or associated with any of the men in the fifty-five percent range. The remaining two-percent bracket seems to be a variety of either non-risk targets or people who just got in the way of the mission."

Derek Morgan added. "Since then Interpol, MI5, NSA, CIA, and the FBI have all been after her."

David huffed. "For recruitment."

Emily noted the tension rising in the room. "She doesn't leave forensic evidence behind for anyone to find."

"Yeah, we'll get her." Derek looked over at the words scrawled on the wall. "She's been making her way through Europe and Asia over the past few years."

David added. "That we know of anyway."

"As far as we can tell, she hasn't operated in the DC area in over thirteen years." Hotch had seen enough of the scene. "We'll need to figure out why she's here."

Detective Malcolm motioned towards the victim. "So why choose a low-level political victim this time?"

David stepped forward. "Let's assume this is her first victim in D.C. There'll be more."

"Should keep the politicians behaving like public servants for a while." Derek smirked to himself. "Everyone will be on high alert."

"If only." Emily only wished that were true. "We have no idea the number of targets on her list here in the D.C. area."

Malcolm wanted more information "And?" He waited a beat. "That's it? That's all you got on this assassin so far?"

JJ looked directly at the detective. "That's all she allows us to have. She's methodical, technical, and leaves no trace behind. Even if we catch her, we won't be able to hold her to any of the crimes at this time. All we have is circumstantial evidence."

"The only way to catch The Eyes is to be diligent in our profile and find a mistake." Hotch turned to the detective. "She's not one to give up on a target."

"And she's just beginning in DC." Emily walked back out of the room, a camera in one hand.

He understood Emily was going to take pictures of the people watching the scene from behind the barricades as well as personnel working the scene. The Eyes could be anywhere. Hotch pulled his phone from an inside pocket and pressed a number on speed dial.

Penelope picked up on the second ring. "Hello fearless leader. Is it true what they say about The Eyes?"

Hotch hesitated. "I'm afraid so. I need to know if there's any local chatter."

She blinked and smiled. "I'm already checking every level, even the nooks and crannies."

"We need to know what they know, fast." Hotch glanced at the techs and background personnel working the scene.

"On it." Her fingers danced across her keyboard. "Call you when I have anything. The Gar is out."

PG disconnected first.

With that task completed, Hotch turned to the others. "JJ, take Reid and find out who Desmond Schaffer met for dinner four days ago." JJ nodded and turned to leave the scene with Spencer Reid. "Rossi, Morgan, interview Senator Becker. Find out if there was anything out of the ordinary that happened in the weeks leading up to the disappearance. They will know more than they think. An assassination in DC isn't going to go over well."

"I doubt an assassin took out the wrong target." Derek glanced at Rossi.

David replied. "Unless Schaffer was the target for information on Becker. Congress is due to vote on an upcoming budget for additional Rhode Island environmental protections next week. That could be motive enough to ward off the Senator's push."

Hotch wasn't sure what the motivation was for The Eyes these days. "It's either to stop it or to cause an up roar before the vote. I don't see that such a bill would evoke such a response at the professional level. We'll need to rule as many theories out as possible. The media will be all over this fairly quickly."

David pointed out. "We'll need to know why he was targeted."

Hotch nodded in agreement. David and Derek walked past Hotch to leave the scene. Emily returned a few minutes later following taking photos of the crowds gathering.

Hotch lowered his voice. "Check with your contacts regarding The Eyes. Someone somewhere knows what's going on locally. I've got a few contacts I reach out to as well."

Emily nodded and moved back out of the room as the coroner had arrived to remove the body from the scene. Hotch stared at the words "I Have Seen You" scrawled on the far wall.

 **WASHINGTON D.C. – STREET/CAFE**

Derek sat in the unmarked black SUV at the curb. David nodded towards him and turned to the main entrance of the café. Rossi strolled into the mom and pop café apparently looking for someone. Inside, David took a seat at the main counter next to an elderly man seemingly asleep on his stool. Crossing his arms, David leaned forward and ordered a coffee from the lovely waitress.

David leaned slightly towards the sleeping man. "Morning to you too."

The old man next to him is Dexter Jones, a retired D.C. Captain who grumbled: "Isn't it enough that I'm here?"

David smiled not caring about the man's sleep. "The Eyes is back in town."

Dexter Jones perked up. "When?"

"Four days ago."

Dexter hesitated before asking. "Left a body did she?"

"And her usual call sign." David nodded towards the wall. "You worked the first case 13 years ago, Dexter."

Dexter huffed. "I was an arrogant, snot-nosed lieutenant back then."

"Now you're just a snot-nosed retired captain. I've kept you updated on new information as it comes in. Anything new crop up on your end since the last case here at the local level? I know the new guys from your old department come to see you to talk about the old days."

They both paused as the waitress served Rossi's coffee. David takes a long drink, waiting for a reply.

Dexter rubbed his chin. "Oh, those glory days." He sighed softly, his shoulders dropped. "There's nothing new that the feds don't already know. She hit LA nine years ago. That's the last we heard of her movements in the States. It's good to know that it's a woman. At least I can stop saying IT these days. Her choice of targets has progressed."

David smirked. "You mean political versus random?"

Dexter eyed David longer than usual. "I doubt it was random even back then. At the time, it seemed like it was more of a test run here in DC. She's got a steep learning curve, she's good with technology, and she's adept at hiding. You're never going to find a speck of evidence connecting her to any of the crimes. She's not like any assassin or serial I've ever seen. Are you going to dedicate one of those books to her?"

"You know…I should." David chuckled.

"I'll check the local grapevine." Dexter slid off his stool. "I'll tag you if anything drops."

David nodded. "Good enough."

 **BAU VEHICLE, OUTSIDE CAFE**

The sidewalk was empty when he left the cafe. David Rossi slid back into the passenger seat of the SUV, closing the door. Derek Morgan didn't look over at him until he heard the click of the seatbelt.

"Anything?" Derek started the vehicle.

"No." David leaned back against the seat. "It seems the grapevine hasn't caught up with whatever The Eyes is doing in DC just yet. That should change in the coming hours as I've put my best contact into motion. Now that it's known she's in town, we should start to see a shift in activity among the locals."

Derek chuckled. "When assassins come to stay, the politicians start to fray."

David glanced over at Derek. "A poet you are not."

Derek chuckled once more, checked traffic, and pulled away from the curb.

 **OUTSIDE THE BAU - QUANTICO, VIRGINIA**

Emily Prentiss stood on the sidewalk outside the building, her cellphone to her ear as the cursory. She heard a beep and presses a button.

EP: "Code Delta, The Eyes have it."

She hangs up the phone and drops her hand and waits. Her eyes sweep the local area as a distraction. Her phone rings, EP glances at the ID, then presses the accept button.

The male voice on the other end replied. "Dogs run free while the cats focus on their mice."

"Dogs run scared when there's a bigger cat in the shadows." Emily waited.

The male voice replied without hesitation. "The Lion has no prey here."

Her call suddenly disconnected as the other party hung up. Emily turned to glance around her, finding no one obviously watching her every move. Unless there was some conspiracy going on, the BAU wasn't any closer to getting answers.

"That could be a serious problem." Her phone rang once more. She glanced at the caller ID finding Detective Malcolm was calling. "Why's he calling me?" She accepted the call and lifted the phone to her ear. "Agent Prentiss."

As she listened to Detective Malcolm explain the situation, her eyes widen.

 **VIRGINIA - COUNTRY CLUB BANQUET FACILITY**

Derek and David arrived at the posh country club and flash their credentials to security staff. They were motioned through and escorted into the luncheon fundraiser for a local charity. A poster with the Key Note Speaker – Senator Becker was placed on either side of the main entrance into the room. They find the past fifty-something Senator Becker with a group of men who move off as they approach. Derek and David both flashed their credentials to the Secret Service agents who let them pass.

Derek Morgan asked. "Senator Becker?"

Senator lost his smile: "This is about Desmond, isn't it?"

Derek nodded. "I'm afraid so."

"We're sorry for your loss." David Rossi took out his notepad.

Becker turned to his left. "This way gentlemen, please." He walked towards an unoccupied corner of the room for some privacy. "Desmond deserved far more than…what he got. It isn't fair."

Derek lined up the questions in his mind. "Did you receive any threats in the past few weeks before the disappearance?"

Senator Becker appeared truly stricken by the sudden death of his assistant. "Nothing. I've rechecked the calendar and daily records. Desmond didn't record anything odd in the daily log nor did he say a word to make me think something was wrong otherwise. Do we know why he was killed?"

David Rossi replied. "We're still working on that at the moment. Anything you can tell us might help more than you think."

Derek added. "So nothing out of the ordinary? Someone who was watching you from a distance? Any suspicious vehicles that may have been following you once too many times?"

Senator Becker stopped to think about the questions. "I don't remember anything like that. I have a busy schedule and rarely think about my own safety. Desmond always took care of such things. He said nothing about problematic persons or vehicles that I can remember."

David wondered. "You were close with Desmond Schaffer?"

Becker responded genuinely with a quiver of the chin. "Desmond wasn't just my assistant. He was like a son to my family. You see, I have four daughters. Having a young man around every day was a nice change for an old man like me. I've asked him to tag along to a few sporting events in the past. I don't if he particularly cared for that sort of thing but he never complained about my crazy schedule since he came on board. Anything's better than the ballet that my wife prefers."

David pressed. "Have there been any threats in connection with the environmental bill?"

Senator Becker looked shock at the mere idea, growing angry. "Who would want Desmond dead over an environmental bill? I find that's just ludicrous!"

Derek pacified. "We have to ask these difficult questions in order to get to the truth, Senator. I'm betting you'd rather find Desmond's killer than worry about how your environmental bill's been perceived?"

"Of course you're right." Becker waved at them, using the moment to bring his emotions back under control. "It's just…he will be difficult to replace."

A man motioned to the senator from across the room. Derek Morgan pulled a business card from his pocket and handed it to Senator Becker.

"If you remember anything, please let us know."

Senator Becker walked away from the agents. Derek and David headed towards the main entrance to the country club. Back in the vehicle, Derek turned to David Rossi from behind the wheel.

"Is it just me or does the Senator has a secret?"

David smiled knowing what Derek meant. "Every Senator has a secret."

"I bet." for some reason it bothered him that the Senator was masking his relationship with Desmond. "The way he talked about Desmond Schaffer…"

"Oh, he was more than just an assistant." David tapped his hand on the rolled down window. "We'll need to have Miss Penelope look into the good Senator's background. I bet there's a lot of late nights and trips he took with that young man."

Derek appeared openly affected by the revelation.

 **BAU QUANTICO – SQUAD ROOM**

Emily arrived back at the office, avoiding the agents assisting the FBI with their investigation. None of her former colleagues were willing to talk openly about The Eyes or the Chameleon. She walked to her desk, not finding member of the team were back yet. She picked up the phone when Hotch entered the Squad Room through the doors, taking large strides towards his office. Setting the phone back down on the receiver, Emily followed in his footsteps, catching up to him when he reached his office. Emily barely knocked on the door when he turned as nodded towards her.

Emily stepped just inside Hotch's office. "I just got off the phone with Metro, Hotch. Another body was found on the west side in a vacant lot."

He paused. "Who's the victim?"

"Marcus Canto, gang leader of the Los Muertes." She wasn't caught up on the Los Muertes gang. "One of the smaller gangs in D.C. but they're known for brutal violence and their reported drug connections to Columbia. Mostly heroin I'm told. The Los Muertes ran the entire DC west side until about six months ago. There was a drive-by at the mall and a huge gun battle that left fifteen of his crew dead. No one knows who started the fight. I checked with vice, Los Muertes faded into the background since."

Hotch rounded his desk. "I heard about that case."

"According to the preliminary coroner's report, Canto was shot point-blank range in the back of the head and the words "I Have Seen You" carved in the dirt around the body after it was dumped." Emily wasn't sure she believed it was related to The Eyes. "Those same words were also scrawled on the wall at our crime scene. We got the call due to the similarity. It doesn't really follow The Eyes usual MO as she prefers interior locations to exterior. I can take JJ and go check it out."

He shook his head. "Let Metro handle it. Let's stay focused on Desmond Schaffer as The Eyes targeted him specifically. Where are we with agency cooperation?"

Emily grimaced, knowing Hotch wanted more answers. "No one wants to talk but they sure as hell want to know what you know. The higher ups are keeping their lips sealed. Even my contacts at NSA and the CIA don't have that level of security clearance."

"So nowhere, which means they've been watching The Eyes for a long time as well." Hotch wondered how much more red tape they'd find along the way. "Our investigations just beginning so we should expect more road blocks with other agencies offering assistance."

"They want us to do all the work." She rolled her eyes. "My other contacts say there's nothing going on in DC to bring The Eyes here that they're aware of at the moment. Because I'm asking these questions, everyone's going to start looking closer at us."

"Let's hope so." Hotch sighed then lifted his desk phone to his ear.

EP blinked in surprise at his reply, hesitated that he was moving on to something else then turned to leave. As she walked back to her desk, she noted a number of agents lingering near the door that weren't FBI.

" _How many agencies were currently in the building?"_ Emily Prentiss sat down at her desk, turning her computer on, lazily taking a mental count of the number of people milling around the BAU Squad Room.

 **BAU QUANTICO - SENIOR ANALYST OFFICE**

Penelope Garcia sat at her main desk running through copious amounts of code slowly rising from bottom to top on the screen before her. Various other screens to her left and right showed active searches with as-yet no query results. Her fingers danced across the keyboard as her eyes squinted.

"Where are you Robin Hood?" She pursed her lips. "The Black Queen really needs your assistance this time." She sighed heavily not getting where she wanted to go. "Not to mention you owe me a huge favor, mon amie." Her computer suddenly beeped.

Penelope froze with a surprised expression on her face. "He's always on-line. Always! Why aren't you on-line?" She got no reply from the screen, a cursor blinking steadily. "Fine, I'll just leave him a message and hope he gets back to me ASAP."

Her desk phone rang. Reaching forward, she hit the speaker button to pick up, knowing it was her favorite SSA.

"The Queen is in." Her eyes remained trained on the screen before her. "Speak and thou shall take your requests to hearth."

"Hey baby girl, I need a favor." Derek's voice was muffled by background traffic noise.

His voice always made her smile. "I love it when you speak of such things my chocolate delight."

Derek chuckled. "How fast can you check a Senator's past without being detected?"

"My knowledge always over floweth, check your email." She smiled at his silence. "I'm also running background on Desmond Schaffer, all of his known friends, family, and the entire Senator's employee list. I fear it will take longer than we'd all like. So far nothing's popped yet. Not that I expect The Eyes to leave us any clues. If she's as good as they claim her to be."

"That's my baby girl, always ahead of the game."

"Assassins and Senators." Penelope wanted to gag. "Sounds like a worse game than Chutes and Ladders."

Even over the phone she could tell he was offended.

"Awe, I loved that game as a kid."

Penelope huffed at the mere thought. "I hated that game. I always ended up down the chutes."

"Admit it." He smiled through the phone. "You didn't like it because there was no tech involved."

Penelope pursed her lips once more. "And?"

"That game prepared me for life." His phone beeped in the background. "Gotta go, baby girl."

She paused because she cared. "Keep that beautiful head low."

Derek chuckled once more as he hung up.

 **BAU QUANTICO – CONFERENCE ROOM**

JJ and Spencer Reid returned to the Squad Room to find everyone had already assembled in the Conference Room for the debriefing. Derek Morgan, Emily Prentiss, and David Rossi were already present at the table. Hotch stood at the table, his back to the door, with files stacked about five high which looked rather thin despite the long-term investigation into The Eyes.

Hotch paused to acknowledge JJ and Spencer walking into the room. "Any luck?"

JJ shook her head. "None of his friends remember anything out of the ordinary before, during, or after dinner when Desmond left in a Tolco Taxi."

Spencer added. "I checked with the taxi company, Desmond was dropped off in front of his house at ten pm that night. The cabbie doesn't remember seeing anyone on the street that seemed off to him."

"The Unsub most likely took him from the house." Derek surmised. "It would be seen as the ultimate challenge. I take you down in your home and there's nothing you can do about it."

Emily leaned forward on her elbows. "Cleaning staff remembers picking up a pile of clothes from the main foyer the morning after he was abducted. According to Metro's report, Maria Campos comes to clean every other day during the week. She came in at nine in the morning and usually tidies the house. She didn't know what the clothes on the floor meant at the time. When she found a note with 'I See You' written on it, she thought it was Desmond's and placed it on the counter by the door. Metro spotted it."

EP slid a photo of the card with the words written in block letters across the table towards Hotch.

Spencer leaned forward and took the photo, staring at it closely. "The handwriting is similar to the other messages left by The Eyes in the past."

JJ read from her notes. "There was no forced entry. The Eyes is good at picking locks and taking out alarm systems."

"Desmond was a strong guy." Derek Morgan pointed out. "No way The Eyes being a woman can overpower him out on the street then drag his body up to his apartment without being seen or heard by someone. According to the London report, The Eyes is a petite sized woman. She would've struggled."

David was half way through his stack of files. "Her usual MO says The Eyes took her target down just inside the front door. She found a way to get him under control quickly."

"It's more logical that she used a chemical method, possibly a syringe." JJ closed her note pad. "She must have the reflexes of a cat."

"It's unusual to find a female Unsub with the ability to take on a much larger target than physically possible." Spencer ran through a number of possibilities silently. "How does she get the victim out of the building afterwards?"

Emily pointed out the obvious. "She has to have a partner."

"There's no evidence of a partner." JJ had opened her files, reading through the paragraph.

Hotch hesitated before replying. "Metro's photos show nothing out of place following the reported disappearance. There was nothing else was taken from the home."

David Rossi liked the possibility. "By all accounts, The Eyes works alone. If she does have a partner, no one knows about the person."

The room stayed silent for a few moments.

Derek threw his hand upwards. "So basically we got nothing."

Emily had to admit. "She's damn good."

Hotch reached for the phone sitting on the table and pressed the extension number into the keypad. He kept the phone on speaker so the team could hear the conversation.

Penelope Garcia picked up her end on the first ring. "Yes my pretties?"

Hotch leaned forward slightly. "Garcia, track down Desmond Schaffer's schedule for the past month. He must've done something to get on someone's radar recently."

"I got a guy who follows that line." Her keyboard tapping could be heard in the background. "Tag you when I find something."

Penelope ended the call once more without offering much.

David turned to Hotch. "You think Desmond Schaffer was more than just an assistant?"

Hotch nodded. "I do."

Derek Morgan had to agree with that avenue of thinking. "An assassin doesn't work for free."

 **WASHINGTON, D.C. - ALLEY**

A man in dark hoodie and black pants walked down a dark alley. He constantly checked over his shoulder as he walked, the rain soaking the exterior of his cloth hoodie. Alone at this time in the evening, he had either criminal intentions or he was on his way to a meeting. His shoulders were hunched as his pace quickened, keeping his head down. A garbage can suddenly fell over in a gust of wind. He paused mid-step then turned towards the garbage can. He chewed on his lower lip as he stared at the trash can. After a moment, he continued on his journey with quickened steps.

A male voice suddenly asked from the shadows. "Talisman?"

The man halted and turned to face the voice. "Deitweiler?"

A slim figure, also clad in a hoodie and black pants, emerged from the shadows. The two men nodded towards one another, an unspoken recognition between them.

Deitweiler replied. "Is it true The Eyes are watching us?"

Talisman nodded. "Word on the street is that the Chameleon will follow soon. We need to skip town ASAP. No heroics this time."

Deitweiler paused before asking. "The usual spot?"

Both nodded but the place remained unspoken for fear they were being watched. Deitweiler retreated back into the shadows and Talisman turned to continue to walk down the center of the alley. Neither man heard the bullets that ended their lives.

 **HOURS LATER as the sun rises…**

Metro D.C. PD and the FBI crime scene analysts scour the alleyway for clues around the two men. Hotch, Emily, and Spencer arrive at the scene. Meanwhile David, Derek, and JJ were already on-site working with the local LEO's to collect evidence and determine how these deaths were related to their first victim.

Derek stood with his hands on his hips. "I'm not sure why we've been called down here, Hotch."

Hotch was also suspicious. "Who are these men?"

David looked down at his notes he'd written based on what the local LEO's told him as he was first on scene. "Local gang members from what I'm told. Garcia's running a background on them as we speak." He pointed at the wall. "Our new visitor left another clue for us."

The team turned to the wall with the words "I Have Seen You" scrawled across the masonry brick in black paint. The handwriting appeared to match to that of their first scene. JJ pursed her lips, staring at the writing as Derek crossed his arms in annoyance.

"This isn't The Eyes." Spencer had taken the time to go over the handwriting. "This is someone else completely."

Derek had a crazy idea. "You think this may be the Chameleon?"

A man with reddish-brown hair in a suit stepped away from the crime scene technicians working in the background and moved towards the BAU team. JJ, the closest to him, turned to meet the man head-on. He pulled out a badge and ID credentials from an inside pocket.

"I'm Agent Alan Rolte, CIA." He shook hands with each of the BAU team. "It's rumored that The Eyes and the Chameleon usually work together. Apparently they've had a recent falling out."

David was suspicious. "They're bringing the feud to DC?"

Rolte nodded as this was based on the current intel. "We think that's what's happening." He motioned towards the two dead bodies in black bags laying on gurneys. "Kyle Toote and Mark Egan, former CIA handlers stationed in Eastern Europe back in the 90's. They were two of our best guys. They went by the code names Talisman and Deitweiler. Talisman called last night to say he was coming in this morning with important information about The Eyes and he was bringing in Deitweiler with him as a precaution. We think the Chameleon took them out before they could do that."

Hotch looked overly concerned. "Who did they handle?"

Rolte glanced around and lowered his voice. "Not here, Agent Hotchner. It'll be better if I come to your office once I straighten this mess out here."

Emily stepped forward. "How can we help?"

Rolte glanced around their immediate position, keeping his voice low. "These guys were most likely loose ends to something. As it's before my time, I'll need help looking through their histories. There's bound to be something on file."

Derek corrected. "If there's even a file."

Rolte nodded. "True, but I have to hope for something."

David felt there was something up with their young CIA agent. "So there's more?"

Rolte hesitated before speaking. "There's a lot I don't know since I'm relatively new to the agency myself. I just got this handed to me yesterday. I hoped it would've had a happier ending."

JJ: "We'll assist where we can."

Rolte returned to his task at the scene. Hotch led the team down the alley and out onto the public sidewalk. Once away from the CIA, Hotch turned to his team.

"Rossi, Reid, confirm Rolte's ID with the CIA." Hotch watched David and Spencer turned and walked off to get going. "Morgan, take Emily and search Toote and Egan's apartments. They might have a Get-out-of-Jail card hidden somewhere."

Emily knew what to look for at the apartments. "We'll find them."

Hotch replied. "Before the Chameleon does."

Derek understood that the investigation was most likely being watched. "I bet there's more going on than we're being told."

Hotch's expression turned firm. "I don't doubt it. Be careful."

Emily nodded they would be vigilant. She turned to follow Derek Morgan back towards their vehicle.

Hotch turned to JJ. "We'll need to spin this as gang-related until we know more. Everyone wants in but no one wants to provide actual assistance."

JJ glanced around, agreeing with Hotch. "They're part of the puzzle?"

"I'm betting on it." Hotch walked back towards the vehicle in which he had arrived on scene.

JJ walked beside Hotch as they left the scene, her eyes scanning the scene for anyone suspicious. There was nothing more they could do here. If the CIA was losing former agents to assassins, there were more than just a few targets in D.C.

 **BAU QUANTICO - SQUAD ROOM**

Hotch returned to Quantico, VA without JJ. As he stepped off the elevator, he found a number of agents from various agencies milling around the BAU office and accessory halls. Moving towards the BAU Squad Room, he pushed through the double doors when he heard a familiar voice call for him.

"Hotch!" Penelope didn't bother to wave, rushing on her colorful shoes.

He stopped to wait for her just inside the Squad Room. "What is it Garcia?"

Penelope appeared nervous. "Remember when I told you I have a guy who follows a certain line?"

Hotch whispered: "Robin Hood?"

PG is momentarily amazed by the insight. "Why you knowing everything I'm going to say before I say it is so awe-inspiring that it makes me almost feel obsolete." Hotch gave her the get-to-it glare. "Oh, right, you guessed it right my dear Hotchness. It's my boy Robin Hood, the number one hacker in the world. Anyway I've been checking the algorithms and the code lines all seem to be matching."

Hotch breathed deeply. "Abbreviate it, Penelope."

"I think Robin Hood and The Eyes are working together."

Hotch stepped towards Garcia. "Are you sure?"

Penelope replied nervously. "Remember that I told you once before that a hacker leaves a bit of themselves when they code? It's how we identify ourselves to others." She paused until Hotch nodded that he did. "Robin Hood is all there in the code used to break into Desmond Schaffer's home security system as well as Senator Becker's home and his office on Capitol Hill. And this code has been appearing at random times over the past six months." She conspicuously looked around then whispered. "I think the senator is the target, not his assistant."

He hadn't expected that information. "You know this how?"

"I've seen the code before but Robin the Hood always changes his style after it's detected by any law enforcement agency. Robin Hood has got to be The Eyes partner." Penelope pouted slightly. "Though I didn't think he had it in him to actually associate with real life assassins. He always seems so hell bent on vocalizing everything with what's wrong with the world…" Her eyes widen. "I'm babbling again aren't I?"

He ignored that Garcia quirk. "Does Robin Hood know who you are?"

"Robin Hood only knows me as the Black Queen, my old hacker identity." Hotch didn't appeared concerned by this. "I doubt he'd bother trying to look me up these days. I haven't contacted him in more than three years."

"Can you contact Robin Hood through one of your chat rooms?"

Penelope froze at the request. "Robin Hood doesn't socialize with us lower life forms, even in the expansive universe known as cyber space. He doesn't have friends or associates with anyone in real life that I know about. Even if I found out who this guy is, the internet would collapse into a gravitational singularity and all would cease to exist as we know it. Robin Hood cracks codes and fire walls then gives what he takes back to the people. That's what makes him so legendary. To chase him down his rabbit hole seems almost insulting."

Hotch didn't like where the investigation wasn't taking them. "Find out for sure. If The Eyes is trying to take out the Chameleon or vice-versa, we need all the help we can get. Innocent people might get caught in the cross hairs, Penelope. This Robin Hood might be able to point us in the right direction."

She sighed heavily, her shoulders dropping. "One doesn't just find out about Robin Hood, Hotch. Not unless he wants you to know more about him, which he has never done in his entire hacker career so far. I haven't actually had a reason to reach out him in the past few years. He owes me a huge favor from our hacker days. But he'll already know the reason I'm trying to initiate contact. As the name implies, Robin Hood doesn't exactly deal with law enforcement."

Hotch smirked. "Didn't you want a challenge when you chose to work for us?"

Penelope Garcia watched Hotch walk away from her in awe. A smile slowly crept across her bright red lips.

"I hate it when he knows me so well."

She turned back towards her office to begin.

 **BAU QUANTICO – CONFERENCE ROOM**

The BAU team assembled once more in the Conference Room for their briefing to avoid being overheard in the Squad Room. Agent Rolte arrived, walking quickly through the door. Penelope brought up the crime scene photos involving former CIA Agents Toote and Egan. In addition, there were several hand-drawn sketches. One was of a man and the other was of a woman. Spencer Reid was quickly reading through the stack of files on the table before him. David Rossi leaded back to read through his first file.

"Nothing was found that was remotely helpful." David looked at Rolte. "If Toote and Egan had evidence on either The Eyes or the Chameleon, it's gone now."

"I checked every potential location for an emergency exit bag. Neither Derek or I found anything." Emily offered. "They might also have alternate locations they kept information but we haven't found either one yet. Garcia is still shuffling through the pasts of Toote and Egan."

Hotch looked to Rolte and pointed at the sketches. "Who is the couple?"

"The male sketch you see on screen is the identity of the Chameleon from multiple eyewitness accounts that's been collected from all over Europe." Rolte cleared his throat. "The female sketch is reportedly of The Eyes based on a description we got from a ten-year old child following a job in London. Though we can't confirm or deny this is actually her. She usually uses disguises and disappears before anyone notices. This face isn't in any database in the world. I've checked."

David looked up from his file. "So how are we supposed to catch a ghost?"

Hotch asked to confirm. "The Chameleon arrived in DC first, correct?"

Rolte nodded. "Our report says he arrived six days."

On screen, another photo opened of a woman severely beaten, her body left in a garbage can.

"This is Tanya Barrone, another of our handlers assigned to Eastern Europe at the same time as Talisman and Deitweiler." Rolte seemed to have issue with the grotesque crime scene. "She was found three days before Desmond Schaffer stuffed into the garbage can you see there. We suspect he was trying to extract information out of her. It seems he got the information he wanted from her."

Spencer squinted at the screen, his eyes carefully memorizing the photo. "According to the ME, it was a quick death, one slice ear to ear. Most of her blood was pooled in the bottom of the trash can we see there."

Another slide popped up of a brick wall with the words "I Have Seen You" scrawled across the masonry in black paint located behind the garbage can with the body in it. The photo was taken just before the body was removed from the crime scene.

Rolte kept his voice even. "Based on my review all of our files on this pair, this is the call of the Chameleon to The Eyes after they completed a mission. The Eyes is the locator of the target and the Chameleon carried out the final kill order."

Derek Morgan entered the Conference Room. "The Eyes is CIA?"

Alan Rolte shook his head. "No. The Chameleon tried to make a deal with the CIA if he revealed The Eyes identity in exchange for reduced charges six months ago. The higher ups wanted more than just The Eyes. This team is part of a larger ring of assassins that operate separately on a worldwide basis. We suspect the hacker known as Robin Hood might be part of this ring, thought we can't confirm it. We also suspected that this Robin Hood character, which currently remains unidentified, may be the distributor of the jobs and handles the distribution of funds following completion of the targets. The Chameleon knew we were closing in on him since he doesn't cover his tracks nearly as well as The Eyes does."

Derek reached for one of the files in the stack to catch up. "You brought the Chameleon in before?"

"No." Rolte didn't want to make enemies with the FBI. "He contacted our London office to set up a meeting, which never actually happened I'm told. Agent Willis didn't give me many details about the phone call either."

David replied. "They like to keep things close to the vest."

Hotch had more questions popping to mind. "The Chameleon gave you the information that The Eyes was a woman?"

Rolte nodded. "He did but he was missing key information about her."

David glanced over at Hotch. "I bet that angered the CIA."

Emily wondered why the Chameleon would pull such a stunt unless it was for a specific purpose. "He's trying to get even by setting The Eyes up to take the fall for the murders here in DC."

Rolte cheered. I thought the same thing. However, The Eyes seemed to have anticipated his move and sent the CIA a package via overnight courier with the evidence we'd need to convict the Chameleon of over 200 kills worldwide just last week. She also documented that there was no physical contact at all when a job came their way. She found the target, located all pertinent information, and sent the Chameleon on his way. Their main communication was through burner phones and encrypted emails which expired after a few days."

"So one tries to turn the other in and the other calls the bluff." David smirked. "Not my kind of poker game."

"The Eyes created self-deleting emails to protect herself?" Spencer leaned forward to stare closely at the hand-drawn faces. "That's brilliant."

"So who's the Chameleon?" JJ entered the Conference Room, returning from an errand.

Penelope changed the screen to bring up another photo of a middle-aged European man.

"Meet Daniel Saben. He's the executive Vice President of European Operations for Qual-Tech Corp International." Rolte moved beside the TV. "It's taken us years to narrow the identity down to twenty potential suspects, all men. The Eyes gave us his identity, which we've verified since, including all of his itineraries, dates, and GPS locator coordinates. Saben has traveled extensively for his job for the past twenty years or so. Toote and Egan were instrumental in learning his patterns, as they were assigned to Daniel Saben from the list we gathered years ago. We were never able to prove anything."

Emily knew what that meant. "He was protected by The Eyes back then. So it seems that the two had a falling out. Now the Chameleon's cutting off loose ends?"

"You know who he is." Spencer wasn't sure why they were on the case now that they knew it was a CIA informant. "Why not just go get him?"

"We need the more proof to make it stick." Agent Rolte shifted onto his other foot. "Our chief doesn't think the evidence given to us by The Eyes will hold up in court. That's why we need her to come in and testify against him."

"She didn't commit the murders." Derek pointed towards the female sketch. "She's the better option as a witness."

Hotch realized the CIA's intent. "You want the Chameleon to lure The Eyes out into the open and take them down together."

Rolte nodded in agreement. "Yes, Agent Morgan is correct, she is the better option. The higher ups hope that we can make a deal with The Eyes."

David had one question. "Exactly how did we get the green light to be debriefed for all of this?"

Alan Rolte eyed each agent. "We're trying to locate Robin Hood and through him, connect to The Eyes. However, the only way to get to Robin Hood that we know of is through the Black Queen."

Derek lowered his voice. "Garcia."

Hotch looked directly at Rolte goes quiet, who avoided meeting his eyes. Glancing over at Rossi, who shared the same idea, Hotch narrowed his eyes towards the visiting CIA agent.

"Garcia's not a field agent." JJ closed the file in front of her. "We can't ask her to put herself in the line of fire."

"I've been ordered to seek Miss Garcia's assistance in locating Robin Hood and hopefully, The Eyes." Alan Rolte looked at JJ. "We suspect the Chameleon's mission is to draw out The Eyes and take both of them down. This is all I know at the moment."

Hotch stood up. "I'll take you to Penelope Garcia, Alan."

Alan nodded in appreciation for the help, following Hotch out of the Conference Room, leaving the door open. The others in the room exchanged concerned glances among them, wondering why Hotch was being so helpful. Derek and David look directly at one another hoping for a clue as to what their leader was looking to learn from Alan Rolte. However, both men knew their next step.

Derek knew he wasn't going to like it. "Hotch is right to question everything the CIA does. I sure as hell don't trust this Agent Rolte. Something's not right about this whole thing. I doubt the CIA's being this open with the FBI so we can all bring in the Chameleon together."

Emily hadn't picked up on the innuendo between Derek and David but she understood Rolte. "They want us to track The Eyes down because they can't."

David tapped the tabletop with his index finger. "It's what we do, find the impossible."

Derek leaned forward. "We need to keep digging without anyone knowing about it."

JJ looked around the table. "That's impossible to do, isn't it?"

Derek sighed. "Tell me about it."

David turned to Spencer Reid. "Come on kid, let's go see if we can't find out what's really going on with this CIA business."

David got onto his feet and headed towards the open door. Spencer frowned as he was getting to his feet, gathering all the files her could into a pile he could take with him for the drive.

Spencer asked as he followed behind David Rossi. "How do you propose we find information on assassins without questioning anyone involved in one of the many agencies here in DC?"

David was unphased by the task. "I've got a grapevine."

Spencer paused in mid-step. "I don't see how wine would be remotely helpful in this instance."

David chuckled. "Not that kind of grapevine, kid."

 **BAU QUANTICO – AGENT HOTCHNER'S OFFICE**

Hotch stood with Agent Rolte with Penelope Garcia looking up from her chair with a firm glare. Aaron knew Garcia was being honest as she wasn't backing down. However, Agent Rolte had crossed his arms tightly over his chest, his shoulders tense. Rolte must've thought his request would be an easy one to complete.

"No, you don't understand, Agent Rolte." Penelope squeezed her index fingers against their respective thumbs to avoid lashing out angrily. "I literally can't help you. I've no way of even contacting Robin Hood. Every time I've attempted to make contact over the past seven years, do you want to know what response I've gotten, Agent Rolte?" She paused to make a point. "Zero, zilch, nadda. Every avenue that used to be open is now closed. I've checked every single one of them. Hood and I used to leave coded messages on chat boards but ultimately it's up to him to initiate contact. And he hasn't made contact once in seven years. I doubt he'd talk to me ever again since I became a traitor to the cause."

Alan Rolte looked to Hotch then back at Penelope. "You've been banished since you joined the FBI?"

"Not everyone knows I've gone to light side." She hated knowing that information had been released to another government agency. "Keep it down, will ya?"

The computer behind her beeped, Penelope swung partially to look at Hotch. She turned once more and entered a 'wait' code into the on-screen password box to avoid revealing her current search task.

"I wish I could be more help." She focused her eyes on the screen in front of her.

Alan sighed heavily, clearly frustrated. He eventually nodded his understanding of her limitations and left her office alone. Hotch watched Rolte leave, confused as to the agent's motive.

Once Agent Rolte left, Penelope shoved a stack of files into Hotch's hands. "Here are the results of my initial searches pre-CIA interference." She waited for Hotch's nod before proceeding. "Desmond Schaffer was doing a lot of things on the side for Senator Becker. What kind of stuff I don't know yet as nothing is definitive or recorded in the realm of politics where cash is usually exchanged. I'm still working on the credit card receipts, which will come in shortly. A friendly reminder: Don't leave those files laying around for anyone to just read. There are way too many non-friendlies in the house."

Hotch nodded in agreement then left her office.

 **WASHINGTON D.C. – DEXTER JONES HOUSE**

David Rossi and Spencer arrived at the home of Dexter Jones to find the lights were off inside and the curtains drawn closed. Having been a longtime friend, David found this behavior a bit off from what he knew of Captain Dexter Jones. He noted there was no car in the driveway. Glancing around, the street was unusually quiet for a weeknight. David noted Dexter's front door ajar, his instincts shifting into protection mode. He drew his weapon as Spencer followed him up the front walkway to the porch.

David swept the area with his eyes. "Follow my lead, kid."

Spencer had already pulled his weapon from its holster, gripping it comfortably in both hands. He stayed close behind Rossi up the front walk, his eyes sweeping for anyone lurking in the dark. DR pushes the door open slowly, the loud creak echoes through the small house. They hesitated before entering the front foyer of the home. David entered the house, not dining anyone in the foyer. He shifted into the Living Room where he found his friend lying on the floor, his throat cut.

"Damn it." David holstered his weapon. "Not the kind of retirement he deserved."

Spencer relaxed his stance, holstering his weapon as well. "You know him?"

"Dexter Jones, Metro captain, retired." David stood with his hands on his hips. "He knows, well he did know, everything that happens in this city. He's been my contact for local and regional chatter these past thirty years. He has two grown kids in New York. He was a good man."

Spencer noted there were no words written on any of the walls. "Doesn't look like either the Chameleon or The Eyes did this."

"Unless they want us to think that." David pulled out his phone. "I'd better call this in."

David dialed 911 to get Metro to the scene. Spencer began a search the house as an active crime scene until Metro arrived to take over. He found a picture of Dexter Jones smiling and shaking hands with Senator Becker sitting on the mantle above the fire place. He picks up the frame and walked over to show David, who ended his call to 911.

David stared at the photo in surprise: "I didn't take Dexter for the political type."

Spencer frowned down at the photo. "Through relatives perhaps?"

"Not that I'm aware of." David would need Penelope to take a closer look at the photo to guarantee it wasn't a fake or a plant. "When Metro gets here, let's stop by the Senator's house for a chat about Dexter Jones."

David Rossi wasn't the only one who wanted answers.

 **BAU QUANTICO – SQUAD ROOM**

Hotch ended the call on his cellphone as he strode through the Squad Room. His eyes near slits, he sighed at the response he got from his CIA contact. At that moment, Hotch stopped as Derek Morgan and Emily Prentiss walked up to him.

Hotch held up his phone. "My contact tells me Agent Rolte checks out."

Derek shook his head in disappointment. "Damn, I was hoping he was an imposter."

Emily smirked at the humor. "If Robin Hood is The Eyes right hand man, this investigation has more than agency eyes on it."

Hotch wasn't sure how far to trust the information from his usually trustworthy source. "Travel in pairs at all times regardless of how menial the task. Tell the others, not over the phone, text, or email. At no time should Garcia be left alone with any personnel from another agency, vetted or not. She'll need to lock the doors of her office at all times. If the CIA wants her to find Robin Hood, so might any other agency with an agenda."

"No harm better come to my baby girl." Derek would make sure of that.

"So what do we do in the meantime?" Emily glanced around the Squad Room. "We're caught between a rock and a hard place, Hotch."

Hotch agreed. "We'll have to divide and conquer. We're still missing important pieces to this puzzle. The closer we get to solving this case, the less agency assistance we'll have by the end."

Derek agreed with Hotch. "Any they'll take the glory for themselves given the chance."

"I don't care about the credit." Hotch wanted his team to survive the investigation given that international assassins were running around DC. "JJ's gone home for the night. I'll enlist Will's help to keep her safe for the time being. Trust no one outside of our group until further notice."

Derek nodded. "Loud and clear. We're going to the morgue to see what else we don't know about the deaths of Toote and Egan that's not in the report."

Emily moved to join Derek as they walked towards the double doors out of the Squad Room. Hotch watched them for a moment then turned and headed towards his office.

 **DARK OFFICE**

A darkened room was dimly lit by the screen of the laptop on the shaky table while fingers flew across the keyboard under strict commands. A view of the main FBI BAU Office area shifted on-screen and then transferred to a patchwork of various BAU offices and the BAU conference room. The screen then zoomed into one window of the BAU Conference Room where the board with the photos and sketches were pinned to the corkboard. A head-to-toe black-clad woman with exception of the eyes leaned forward on the table.

She whispered. "The BAU are getting closer."

A second woman, also clad in head-to-toe black with exception of the eyes, sat beside the first then leaned forward. "No matter, the Chameleon knows he's trapped with nowhere to hide."

The first replied. "His first mistake was to eliminate Talisman and Deitweiler."

The second agreed. "Friends of the cause. Are we in danger of detection?"

The first shook her head. "Robin will see to that. In the meantime, we continue with the plan until its completion."

The main camera angle shifted to the FBI BAU Agent Hotchner's office where he sat down at his desk and looked at his computer screen.

 **BAU QUANTICO – AGENT HOTCHNER'S OFFICE**

More than an hour later, AH's phone rings while he sits at his desk writing up his daily report. He silences the ringer on his phone and lifts it to his ear.

"Yeah, David?" Aaron looked at the closed door of his office.

David's voice had a twinge of 'I-told-you-so' to it. "Hotch, you aren't going to believe this."

Hotch knew that meant only one thing. "The bodies were transferred to the CIA for further analysis?"

Emily was heard in the background. "I hate it when he guesses it right the first time."

David sighed into the speaker. "That just makes our job harder."

"Or someone doesn't want us interfering." Hotch had many questions. "Either way, it means we're on the right track. Garcia's sent the files from Rolte to each of your emails. You can review them from home. Remember to stick together on this one."

Emily glanced at Morgan. "Yours or mine?"

Derek sighed then smiled. "Yours, it's bigger."

Hotch disconnected with Emily and Derek and stood to glance through the glass window across the BAU Squad Room that had recently filled with multiple agents from the various agencies milling around with little to do. He dialed David Rossi's number.

 **DEXTER JONES' HOUSE – WASHINGTON D.C.**

David Rossi stood with Spencer Reid watching Metro Crime Scene analysts get to work on Dexter Jones' home. A number of Metro cops also arrived to stand watch over the scene in tribute to their former Captain. There would be a lot of pissed off cops gunning for the Chameleon and The Eyes if word got out on the streets they caused Dexter's death. His phone rang. Noting Hotch was trying to reach him, David accepted the call.

David kept his eyes on the house. "Hotch?"

"I got your message about your friend, I'm sorry about your friend." Hotch paused as he shifted through files, the rumbling heard in the background. "Are you still at the scene?"

"Yeah." David sighed almost silently as the gurney with the body bag was rolled adjacent to the front door. "Metro says it looks like a burglary gone wrong. I don't buy it. I think the Chameleon's looking for The Eyes anywhere he can. It seems he's desperate."

"We should meet to discuss the case instead of over the phone."

David's head perked up. "That good?"

"Caution, nothing more." Hotch didn't want a game of twenty questions. "From a safety stand point, we should travel in pairs until this blows over."

David agreed that would be the most prudent course of action. "That's going to take a while."

"Any luck with the Senator?"

David handed his phone off the Spencer.

Spencer switched the phone to speaker mode. "The Senator claims that he was at home when Desmond was reportedly abducted. His wife confirms his story and there are also plenty of security cameras to corroborate their story. Earlier in the day, Desmond offered to take the Senator's car back to Becker's house before heading to meet his friends for dinner. The Senator was to get a ride home from the host of the event. Maybe Desmond was followed from the Senator's house."

David added. "Schaffer may have been a surrogate for the senator."

Spencer continued. "I calculated there were four possible routes from the Senator's house to the restaurant. I'm having Garcia pull the security footage from any cameras along those routes."

"The Senator was the target after all." David looked to Spencer then down at the phone. "But why?"

"Becker may have given something to Desmond Schaffer that the Chameleon or The Eyes wanted." Spencer looked at the file he held in an open-position. "He mentioned a flash drive that Desmond used to carry around with him every day. But it wasn't listed in his personal effects from the crime scene."

"The Senator may still be a target or the target's been altered." Hotch agreed with Spencer. "I'd check evidence one more time in case it was missed. If the flash drive was the deciding factor to take out Desmond Schaffer, we'll need to know what's on it."

"Garcia said she's already looking at Schaffer's hard drive from his desktop." Spencer added. "It's encrypted but she's making some progress."

"Senator Becker thinks he may be a target as well. He's tripled his security since Desmond's death was publicized." David Rossi was wondering what Hotch wanted to talk without a phone.

"Rossi, I'll meet you at your place. I'm can be there in thirty."

"We should beat you there, Hotch. I didn't see a lot of traffic on our way here."

Spencer ended the call. David turned back towards their SUV to meet Hotch back at his home. Spencer quickly climbed into the passenger seat. Peeling rubber as he pulled away from the curb, David slammed on the gas and turned the corner. He slammed on the brakes, his eyes widen at all the rear vehicle taillights ahead of them on the city road.

Spencer Reid stated the obvious. "Doesn't look like we'll beat Hotch to your house."

David Rossi sighed as Spencer looked for an alternate on his phone.

 **HOME OF DAVID ROSSI - DRIVEWAY**

Hotch arrived first in the Rossi driveway to find that the front door was wide open. He checked his watch and pulled his phone out. Frowning, he found there was no coverage with which to make a call. Pocketing his cellphone once more, Hotch pulled his weapon as he exited the government-issued SUV. Approaching the house, he noted there were no exterior lights on around the house. As it's located in a good neighborhood, it appeared this was the only house with a power outage.

Unable to send a text or make a call, Hotch exited his vehicle to check the house. With his weapon drawn in both hands, Hotch approached the open front door. Easing just inside, he checked the foyer, behind the front door, and entered the darkened home. He turned to check the front closet and opened the door. A figure clad in head-to-toe black stretched a hand forward and pressed the taser against his chest. His body shook violently, his hand release his weapon and clattered onto the floor. Hotch fell to the floor unconscious. A second black clad figure exited the closet standing next to the first, a large piece of luggage sat beside her, a hand on its handle. The two hesitate to stare down the FBI agent.

The first figure was disappointed. "We got the wrong agent."

"It doesn't really matter which agent we obtained at The Eyes behest." The second woman replied. "He's just the means to an end anyway."

The two women squat on either side of Hotch and began to undress him. They worked quickly and eventually zipped up the luggage. One figure placed on the table adjacent to the front door as they left the house, rolling the suitcase behind them. The two female forms disappeared down the sidewalk and around the corner.

Minutes later, David Rossi and Spencer Reid arrived at Rossi's home. Both exited the vehicle quickly and pulled their weapons as they approached the open front door. David entered first followed by Reid. Their stance loosened when they spotted Hotch's suit neatly folded on the floor of the foyer, including his sock and shoes. Hotch's gun, IDs, and badge were set on top of the suit.

"Damn it!" David hadn't seen anyone as they approached the house.

"If my calculations are correct, Hotch would've been here for only a few minutes before we arrived. We just missed The Eyes!" Spencer walked back out onto the front lawn to check the opposite direction of where someone could have taken Hotch.

David followed Spencer out onto his lawn. "I didn't see any vehicles coming towards us either."

The pair retraced their steps back out to the street, but neither agent found anything moving in the shadows. David sighed, finding no immediate clues as to how Hotch was abducted. Spencer began to canvas the neighborhood, walking towards the sidewalk while David pulled out his phone to call Derek Morgan. He held the phone to his ear but the call went to voicemail.

"Morgan isn't picking up." David dialed another number. "Yeah, Penelope? The Eyes got Hotch."

He heard Penelope drop her drink glass on the floor the other end of the line.

 **BAU QUANTICO – SQUAD ROOM**

Derek, Emily, Spencer, David, and JJ huddled together in the BAU Squad Room unsure where to start the search for Hotch. Penelope rushes into the Squad Room, overly concerned with Hotch's well-being, and slides to a halt just before reaching the group.

Penelope asked hopefully. "Where did she take him?"

Derek took Penelope into a hug. "We don't know yet. We will find Hotch, baby girl."

Penelope wasn't to be placated with a hug although if felt good to be reassured. "But he's been abducted."

JJ: "Looks that way."

David looked to JJ. "I found Hotch's clothes in the foyer of my house."

Penelope stepped away from Derek in shock, yet oddly intrigued. "All of his clothes?"

David shook his head this time: "I didn't take an inventory. Everything I found is at the lab for analysis. Not that there'll be anything to find but maybe we'll get lucky for once.

Emily didn't like knowing that The Eyes could be torturing Hotch while they stood discussing. "She was waiting for you, Dave."

Spencer looked at Rossi: "No one knew Hotch was meeting us at your house."

"Why you exactly?" Derek looked over at David. "Is there something we should know about?"

David Rossi shrugged. "I went to talk to a retired local friend of mine tonight, Dexter Jones. He's a retired Metro Captain. He was dead when we arrived at his house and I called in Metro to handle it. Dexter left a voicemail that there's been low chatter about the Chameleon. Apparently, the local mob and drug cartels are nervous about the Chameleon's presence here in DC."

Emile crossed her arms. "That gives us a much larger victimology pool to choose from."

"Based on the information at present, I think it's safe to presume that something's happening in DC that no one in the law enforcement agencies knows about or it hasn't happened yet." Spencer had been reading up on the case histories of the Chameleon and The Eyes. "Nothing of what I've read so far indicates that neither is involved with either the mob or drug cartels. What activities would involve assassins, the mob, and drug cartels?"

JJ didn't see a connection between the three. "The Eyes followed the Chameleon here? Now why would she risk that?"

The light bulb went off in Derek's mind. "It's got to be something bigger than her feud with the Chameleon that brought her to back to DC. Not to mention she's roped this reported Robin Hood into assisting her. She's got to have a game plan and an exit strategy."

"Great, so now we have a mob-cartel-assassin war to deal with plus finding Hotch." David sighed the case just got more complicated. "I miss the days when people killed people over simple things."

Penelope stepped forward. "You don't think she'll…kill Hotch, do you?"

"Not from what I've seen." Emily didn't think The Eyes intended to harm Hotch. "I think she's looking for information."

Derek hesitated. "I don't know, Emily. She's been working for a long time with the Chameleon. It's only a matter of time before she becomes bold enough to commit murder on her own. Unless she already has."

"She's not working with the Chameleon any longer." David reminded himself out loud. "If Emily is right and The Eyes follows her MO, Hotch will be left somewhere we can find him."

JJ appeared confused. "What's her MO?"

Derek didn't like the situation at all. "The Chameleon kills the target and leaves it behind. It's The Eyes who calls the local jurisdictions and tells them where to find the bodies. She's done that in the past as well as Schaffer, Toote, and Egan."

Penelope needed clarification. "So no dead Hotch?"

Emily shook her head. "No."

She noted out loud. "So just a naked Hotch." Penelope puts her hands on her head and shook. "I refuse to even think about Hotch out there like that." Suddenly Penelope's eyes widened. "We should have clothes ready in case The Eyes calls. We can't leave Hotch out there…like that."

The BAU agents stared at Penelope Garcia as if the idea hadn't occurred to them.

Emily sucked in a breath. "That's a bit embarrassing, isn't it?"

JJ nodded in agreement. "Garcia's right."

David Rossi smiled and pointed at his office. "I already have a bag waiting."

JJ and Garcia sighed in paired relief.

Spencer didn't look at Rossi's office. "So now what?"

Derek hated to admit that they were stuck waiting. "We have no choice but to wait for The Eyes to call. Hotch might find out more about what's going than we will."

David shrugged. "There's that."

 **WAREHOUSE – WASHINGTON, D.C.**

AH woke to find his clothes missing with his arms tied to the ancient metal bedpost. A black-clad form from head to toe, with exception of the eyes, moved with confident steps to the footboard of the bed. He suspected the woman was The Eyes. Hotch noted that this woman stood much taller than the two female forms who had abducted him from Rossi's home.

Hotch ignored his current situation. "Where am I?"

A feminine voice replied evenly. "That's such an obvious answer, Agent Aaron Hotchner."

Hotch tried another question to test her. "Why am I here?"

"Jason Gideon wasn't available as I've read all of his books." The woman crossed her arms. "You arrived first at Agent Rossi's home. He would be here instead of you had he arrived on time. Not that your Dr. Reid would've been difficult to subdue had they arrived first."

"Why the removal of my clothes?" Hotch felt a twinge on his chest where the taser electrocuted him.

"I've learned over the years that people tend to be more truthful when they're exposed." She walked away from the bed, opening a laptop on a nearby table. "What do you know of the Chameleon?"

Hotch considered his options: "He's an assassin named…"

"Daniel Saben. I've known his identity for a sometime now. The Chameleon's planning to retire from service very soon. He had a contact in the CIA with the code name 'Talisman.' But it appears he has a new handler. I followed him to DC six days ago."

Hotch perked up: "The Chameleon works for the CIA?"

"I'd doubt they would claim that connection presently." She nodded. "He has in the past on numerous occasions. I have the proof you'd require to verify my story."

Aaron noted that The Eyes intended to exchange information with information. "Do you have a disagreement with the Chameleon?"

"He does with me as I removed his last target before he did." Her fingers typed away on the keyboard. "The pay-off was rather large and he would've been able to retire sooner."

"So the Chameleon is retiring in less than month." Hotch wondered why the FBI. "How is David Rossi involved in this?"

"The Chameleon was following him from Dexter Jones' house." The Eyes didn't look over at the agent. "I don't know why your agent got his attention. But I decided to pursue other avenues of investigation, just as you would have done. There are no open contracts on FBI agents or retired Metro captains."

"You deal mainly with contracts?"

"Yes." She let the computer run its programming and returned to the foot of the bed. "No doubt the Chameleon wanted information."

"You were here in DC thirteen years ago. Dexter Jones worked the case back then as a Lieutenant."

"Yes, Mr. Jones was quite adept at inserting himself into investigations." The Eyes watched Hotchner's face. "It's the reason he's now dead."

"Turn yourself in." Hotch offered. "Testify against the Chameleon."

The Eyes laughed. "My record is clean, Agent Hotchner, though I'm not against defending myself when the time comes. The Chameleon doesn't know who I am. He thinks he knows. However, it was I who gave him what I wanted him to have. The CIA made a deal with him to lure me out into the open in exchange for a free ride to retirement."

Hotch frowned at the revelation. "You knew?"

"I know everything about the Chameleon. You should know that Agent Rolte is a Russian mole. I'm sure the CIA isn't aware of this fact judging by your expression." She paused momentarily to check the computer screen on the progress. "You suspected Alan Rolte's agenda since your initial meeting. Tell the Black Queen to expect a visit from a merry man with the proof that you seek. You'll be able to track him to the northwest should he make a run for it."

Hotch tested his wrist restraints: "Turn yourself in, we can protect you."

"You have such a deep Captain America complex, Agent Hotchner. I must say it's rather refreshing. I suspected there was no man left who wasn't so ingrained in the politics of the FBI. Agent Gideon wasn't nearly as honorable as you project to be. But then, actions do speak louder than words."

"Every agency is searching for you." Hotch noted The Eyes appeared unphased by his warning. "They will find you eventually. We will find you."

The Eyes shook her head. "Only if I want you to find me, Agent Aaron Hotchner."

She took out Hotchner's cellphone from her waist pocket.

Hotch was sure his call log was safe. "You cloned by phone?"

"It was the least I could do." The Eyes paid him no attention as she pressed in a passcode and the phone lit up. "I told you, Agent Hotchner, I know everything."

She pressed the "Call" button while on speaker phone.

"Trust no one but your team." The Eyes warned him. "Everyone involved in this investigation has something to lose should the information come to light. And it will come to light. I have guaranteed this eventuality." Someone picked up on the other end. "Yes, I'd like to report a naked man in warehouse. Yes, near the industrial park. Can you trace my phone?" She ended the call once her laptop beeped. "We've been located."

Hotch heard sirens in the distance. The Eyes stared at him for a few more seconds before walking out of the room, the laptop smoking then going up in flames. He eyed every surface, testing his restraints once more. They were tight. The whole room was solid with nothing within reach. The walls were barren with layers of cracked drywall and peeling layers of multi-colored paint. She hadn't written any words on the walls.

 **BAU QUANTICO – SQUAD ROOM**

Dressed in sweat pants and a matching FBI sweat shirt, Hotch entered the Squad Room ahead of his team close behind him. JJ veered off to handle the press docket and to discuss where the investigation would go from here on out. Penelope jogged up to join the group following Hotch up the stairs and into the Conference Room. Derek closed the door of the room to prevent eavesdropping by the milling agents who'd taken an interest at Hotch's return.

Penelope hugged Hotch. "Oh my god! You're all right!"

Hotch smirked at the sentiment. "I'm fine, Penelope. The Eyes never intended to hurt me."

Penelope stood in awe. "You talked to The Eyes?"

David sat down at the table. "Let me guess, she wanted information?"

Hotch nodded. "She told me that Alan Rolte's a Russian mole. I've informed my CIA contact of this to get that confirmed on their end. The Eyes also told me that the Chameleon works for the CIA."

"That certainly changes things." Emily was shocked. "You trust her?"

"She didn't seem to care whether I believed her or not." Hotch was inclined to follow his gut on this one. "I will until we know more as this is our only lead at the moment."

"So the CIA knew the identity of the Chameleon even back then." Spencer hadn't read that in the files. "Why present this as new information to us?"

"It's nothing more than a bargaining chip to her." DM: "There's something else going on between those two assassins. You got nothing more on what's going down?"

Hotch wondered why The Eyes didn't offer more. "She wasn't forthcoming with information. Dave, she mentioned the Chameleon was following you from Dexter Jones' house. Did you see anything?"

David Rossi shook his head and glanced over at Reid who appeared to not have noticed either. "We scoured around the house and the immediate adjoining properties. There was nothing out of the ordinary that I saw. If he was there, he kept a good distance."

Spencer wondered. "Dexter Jones may have had something on him that the Chameleon wanted after all."

David wondered if this was the possible motive for the Chameleon's following him. "I can go through the evidence from his home one more time. Garcia's got all of his electronics which she's running at the moment. His voicemail was the only thing he left for me outside of the house."

Penelope nodded David was correct. "I'm still doing the data dump. If there's something on his drives, I'll find it."

"I doubt The Eyes would set up a retired Metro Captain to take a fall in this." Hotch was sure The Eyes would've left something for them to find. "There was nothing out of place?"

David shrugged not thinking of anything. "Not to me."

Spencer concentrated on remembering their canvas of Dexter Jones' house. "Besides the picture of Dexter with Senator Becker, nothing comes to mind. You know, I called the Senator on our way to meet Hotch at Rossi's place last night. He claimed he never met a Dexter Jones. He didn't even know Mr. Jones was associated with Metro, much less a retired captain."

Everyone looked towards Reid.

David got to his feet. "That's got to be it. Penelope, you still have the photo?"

"My initial scan tells me the photo of Dexter Jones and Senator Becker has been Photoshopped." Penelope sighed that her to-do list was rather long. "It's a pretty bad Photoshop effort in my opinion. I'll have to dig deeper into…wait…" Her eyes widened. "No way…"

Penelope Garcia tore out of the Squad Room on the hunt with her idea about the photo.

Hotch knew there might be a trick up the sleeve of Garcia's dress yet. "The Eyes claims that she gave all this information to Talisman six years ago while he was stationed in Europe. I presume she thought we already knew about the connection. I will need to tell Garcia that Robin Hood will be contacting her with information from The Eyes. Reid, stay with her until it comes through. Keep that door locked until it comes in and don't travel alone anywhere."

Spencer nodded his task and turned to follow in Garcia's footsteps.

Emily knew something was off about Rolte. "That doesn't tell us what's going on with the Chameleon, the mob, and drug cartels."

David saw through that. "If the Chameleon works for the CIA, they already knew it long before Rolte became an agent. The CIA scuttlebutt is far more reaching than mine these days. Dexter once told me that at certain times every so many years, the streets were safe because it seemed that even the mobsters and cartels stayed home."

"Because the Chameleon was in town?" Hotch asked.

"Which means he's killed in DC a number of times before." Derek wondered if the CIA knew exact number of kills the Chameleon was responsible for since his tenure began. "I doubt the murders were sanctioned as the CIA doesn't operate on domestic soil."

Hotch wondered if there were unsolved cases in Metro that hadn't been connected to the Chameleon due to the nature of the crime and the victims involved.

Emily stated. "They're not supposed to…but sometimes it does happen."

David nodded. "More so than they admit."

Hotch wasn't sure if The Eyes was trying to protect his team or set them up. "If we assume that the Chameleon was coming to DC to check in with the CIA, he has something else here that would draw him to DC regularly. It wouldn't be about a job."

Derek immediately thought of one thing. "You mean like a family member?"

"It's the most likely connection." Hotch agreed. "He'd be either unmarried with a child or a child listed as dead if divorced. There wouldn't be a record of a living relative."

"It would be to protect his family from any mob families or cartels looking to settle a score." Emily offered. "Not that they'd risk crossing paths with an assassin by taking out his family. He'd retaliate far worse than the initial attack."

"Exactly." David wrote his ideas down on his notepad. "Maybe someone threatened his family and he's going after the threat."

Derek Morgan stopped to glance at Hotch. "What did you find out about The Eyes while you were with her?"

"She was fully covered except for the eyes, heavily made up with cosmetics." Hotch wished the lighting had been better. "I could tell she has green eyes. She said nothing verbal about herself. She came off very confident and a bit cold. There's a partial ego in that she believes we will never catch her."

Emily knew the type from personal experience. "They all say that until we do."

Hotch paused, remembering the woman's behavior. "I didn't think about it until now but she kept her distance from me and stayed at the bottom of the bed, past the footboard. She never came near me nor did she try to convince me she was innocent of anything. She knows how the various agencies work here in DC. She even claimed to know Gideon."

"Have we possibly met her already and not know it?" Emily felt alarmed that The Eyes might have infiltrated the investigation already.

"She's trained to blend in." Derek agreed. "But if we don't know who she is, the number of female government workers involved would be like trying to find a needle in a number of haystacks."

David didn't like the sound of that weighing down on his conscience. "That doesn't sound like a narcissist to me. Sure she's a bit arrogant when it comes to her skills. However, she's never been vocal or overtly involved in the actual killings."

"I offered her protection to come in." Hotch noted the looks coming his way. "Danger didn't seem to bother her. She didn't seem affected by the fact that every agency will be out looking for her until she's caught. I told we would find her. She replied 'not if I don't want you to.' Based on the files I've seen, we wouldn't find her unless she wanted us to."

"Us or you?" Emily wondered if The Eyes was just telling Hotch what he expected to hear.

Hotch frowned: "I don't understand."

Emily leaned forward. "Based on the files we've been privy to, The Eyes kidnaps the target, strips them, leaves the clothes behind as a calling card, and leaves them somewhere alive so the Chameleon makes the final kill. She's responsible for creating an atmosphere of humiliation to the victims before they die. She's just as guilty as the Chameleon. She does the same to an FBI agent but doesn't leave you to die. Why?"

David hadn't looked at it that way. "Is the striping of the victims her MO or at the request of the Chameleon?"

Hotch paused before he spoke. "I asked her why she removes the clothes. She responded that people are the most honest when they're exposed."

"So she uses it as a method to obtain information." Derek figured the removal of the clothes was strictly The Eyes methodology. "The Chameleon is merely the cleaning crew once The Eyes gets what she wants out of their chosen target."

David had to ask for personal reasons. "Was The Eyes right?"

Hotch appeared uncomfortable, choosing not to answer the question. He left the Conference Room, pulling his phone from his inside pocket as his cover to excuse himself from his company. Derek, Emily, and David exchanged a chuckle.

"That was deep." Emily breathed.

"Ah well." David figured Hotch hadn't put much thought into his contact with The Eyes. "I was only asking a question he'll have to face following his report."

Derek sighed. "They'll wonder how the encounter affected him."

David left the room to chase after the photo frame from Dexter Jones' house.

 **BAU QUANTICO – SENIOR ANALYST OFFICE**

The photo of Dexter Jones and Senator Becker sat dismantled on Penelope Garcia's desk. Standing, she scanned the back of the photo with a grocery market laser scanner in long strokes across the length of the page. Her computer screen beeped loudly. Data began to stream from the bottom to the top of the screen as she moved the scanner along the photo.

"Oh Eyes, you are seriously genius girlfriend." She watched the data as it downloaded then ran to her desk and dialed a number. Getting no answer, she dialed Hotch's office. "Is Agent Rossi there by chance, Hotch?"

"No." Hotch replied. "I left him in the Conference Room. Did you find something?"

"I hit the jackpot on the photo from Dexter Jones' house. The back of the photo was turned into a flash drive. I've got a terabyte of data downloading as we speak. Was Dexter Jones some kind of tech guru?"

"Not that I know of, Garcia." Hotch sounded intrigued.

David Rossi's voice came from behind. "Actually he's old school, like me."

Penelope jumped at his sudden appearance. "Then he wasn't the one who loaded the information on this photo."

"Which means someone left it there for us to find." Hotch ended the call on his end.

David took over. "Anything from Robin Hood?"

"Negative on the contact front." Penelope was disappointed because she'd been so hopeful that The Eyes told Hotch, who told Reid, that Robin Hood would be in contact soon. "If it happens, you'll be the first one tagged. However, I'm thinking this odd photo might be the contact point we're looking for from my boy The Hood. When it's done downloading, I'll need assistance in going through all the info."

David realized Penelope was alone. "Where's Reid?"

Penelope returned her attention to the data stream. "He's on a much needed break. I'm locked in my world here. I've got him on a timer. If he doesn't return shortly I'll send out a search party."

David knew there was another avenue he could tap. "Keep us posted."

Penelope nodded as David left her office. "Will do."

Seconds later, she heard the locks disconnect on her door and Reid entered the office. He drops a key on a lanyard on Garcia's desk.

"Come, much to do we have."

Spencer discovered the data stream on the computer screen. "Whoa. All of that was on the back of the photo?"

"It's going to take ages to get through it all." Penelope reran the scanner once more to capture everything. "I hope you brought more coffee."

Spencer sat down to begin. "I'm looking forward to it."

Penelope stopped to look at Spencer who was blatantly unaware of her curious stare.

 **BAU QUANTICO – HOTCHNER'S OFFICE**

In his office, Aaron ended the call and sighed. His elbows on this desk, his shoulders dropped slightly. At that moment, David Rossi and Derek Morgan entered his office, looking for information.

Hotch headed them off. "It seems Agent Rolte's in the wind, if that's even his real name. The CIA is conducting a full investigation into his activities since he joined the agency two years ago."

David wasn't surprised. "Not that we'll get any information out of their investigation. I wouldn't want to be his boss right now."

"There's that." Derek hated the thought of their losing Rolte now. "I'm betting that Rolte's waiting for The Eyes and the Chameleon to arrange a meet to discuss their differences. He knows how they operate since he's had access to the files these past two years."

"Is that even a possibility?" David glanced at Morgan. "None of agencies investigating these assassins knew how they were communicating. How would Rolte know how they operated?"

"Unless Rolte took over from his previous handler and knew what that person knew?" Hotch remembered his conversation with the assassin. "The Eyes told me Agent Rolte was a Russian mole. If he's the Chameleon's new handler, the Chameleon might've connected the dots himself."

Derek understood the logic. "The Chameleon will want a clean getaway. If what you say is true about him wanting to retire then we're looking at a higher body count before this if over with."

David shrugged: "I'd be okay if they wipe each other out in the end."

Hotch hated the thought of losing agents. "I doubt The Eyes will let that happen."

"That means she saw it coming and warned the Chameleon." David realized that there was more going on than just a Russian mole. "The Eyes is protecting herself. The Chameleon is searching to find out if The Eyes is right about this Agent Rolte. And our Russian mole Rolte wants them both dead. Sounds like a recipe for a bloodbath."

Derek slid his thumbs into his pockets. "We still have the photo from Dexter Jones' house The Eyes left behind for us to find."

Hardly a consolation, David thought. "If The Eyes is true to form and left a lot more data on photos from past victims, we won't be able to stop any of them."

Derek wasn't giving up on the brains of the BAU just yet. "We'll need to let baby girl and pretty Ricky figure things out for us in that department. We don't even know who left the picture at Captain Jones' house. We're only assuming it's the Eyes."

"She's the only one with the skill to do so with her connection with this Robin Hood character." David felt annoyed. "And we have no idea who this guy is either. Because I'm a betting man, I'd go with The Eyes. Doesn't sound like something the Chameleon or this Rolte would do on purpose."

Hotch's phone rang, disrupting the tension in his office, staring at the caller ID. "The press is looking for an update. JJ's waiting for me."

Derek decided where he was going to spend his time that would do the most good. "I'll go see how I can help Garcia and Reid to move things along faster."

David turned to follow Morgan. "I'll join you. The more the merrier as I like to say."

Derek sighed heavily from too little sleep and not enough caffeine. "We're going to need a lot more coffee."

David didn't pass up on the chance. "Are you offering to make a run for the good stuff?"

Derek muttered. "I heard it was your turn."

The agent's chuckle and parted ways.

 **BAU QUANTICO – CONFERENCE ROOM**

The next morning, the BAU team gathers in the Conference Room alone. Penelope and Spencer lead off the meeting, dressed in fresh clothes. Coffee cups littered the conference table between the open files and snacks. Flashes of documents and stills of videos pop up in individual windows on the main screen.

"Everything we need to connect the Chameleon to a number of assassinations in Europe, Asia, and South America was loaded onto the photo left at Captain Jones's house." Spencer read from a file. "But there's nothing about North America here."

"The Eyes documented every transaction, every conversation, and every job." Penelope needed a vacation after this. "And of course you'll see the references to several CIA agents as well. She warned the CIA years ago about the Russians infiltrating the agency."

"She did this with a specific purpose in mind." Spencer knew he was tired after all the reading he'd done. "I believe The Eyes had Robin Hood maintain and hide the files in plain view within the residences of the very people who had been hunting them over the years."

Derek perked up, his eyes no longer droopy. "What?"

Spencer nodded towards Garcia, who brought up more files. "Throughout all of the files kept by The Eyes, North America was the only continent that was separated out. I went back through the old case files from known assassinations across the United States alone. I asked the local LEO's in those cities associated with these cases to go back through their evidence and check for out of place items in the victim's possessions. At every crime scene, an unusual photo of the victim was reportedly left among groups of family photos. Those photos are on their way to us now by personnel FBI carriers. In the case of Captain Jones, he had a picture of himself with Senator Becker but the two had never actually met."

"The Eyes knew the Chameleon would never piece together the bread crumbs she left behind as he didn't know enough about them to decipher the unusual placement." Hotch wondered what made The Eyes keep track of everything.

David gave The Eyes credit for her thorough files. "It's clear that the Chameleon recently this found out. He's been back tracking to all of their old jobs to collect the evidence before anyone realizes their importance."

Emily flipped through a file. "Those who got in the way were eliminated."

Penelope brought up a few windows with various documents in each one. "She's used algorithms not even Robin Hood can touch. I'm seriously impressed here. Honestly, I think she's got to be his mentor or something. There are massive amounts of audio recordings, video, emails, text messages, even a client list on the back of this one photo."

JJ shrugged with her hands. "Why now?"

That answer was obvious to Hotch. "The Chameleon wants to retire."

Derek leaned back in his chair. "It's more than just his retirement she's interfering with. The Eyes has a specific code she follows. This is obvious otherwise Robin Hood wouldn't choose to work with an assassin knowing her end game. Robin Hood doesn't strike me as the type of guy to worry about money either. There's no way Robin Hood is oblivious of her part in all of this."

"I don't think so." Penelope was openly offended. "Hackers don't kill people in real life. That's a serious hacker no-no."

Derek could see it changing in the face of adverse conditions. "Robin Hood is nothing more than an assistant. Daniel Saben did something that went against her personal code which made her turn on their professional relationship. We find the turning point, we find The Eyes."

JJ looked through another file. "I don't see what that could possibly be. If they've never met, how could he break her code?"

Hotch could see this would take more time than he wanted it to. "We'll need to go over every known assassination within the past year, domestic or abroad. The turning point was recent, so let's presume that the break occurred within the past six months. But the stressor may have happened in the months before until The Eyes discovered it."

"If she's as capable as Robin Hood at writing code, she would need a base of operations." Spencer held a sheet of paper up to read. "Because of who she is, it would be located in plain sight. Like the photos she's left in the past victim's homes that no one thought to check."

David felt this investigation would be a great case study for a book. "She blends in easily with the crowd where she lives. She won't stand out, won't be reclusive but she won't be overly friendly either. There won't be complaints against her if it's an apartment."

Emily wasn't nearly close to finish going through her file stack. "Nor will anyone have a bad word to say about her."

JJ agreed with a nod. "She's been a ghost for years. We can't charge a ghost with a crime we can't link her to, can we? Is there any evidence of wrong-doing on her part?"

Derek stood up to bend his knees. "She was complicit in the assassinations since she gathered the initial intel on the targets. One might argue that she was just gathering information. Hell, she might claim she didn't know what the information would be used for."

"We'll get more once we get her into custody." Emily had some of her own ideas.

David noted JJ's expression. "What's the problem JJ?"

"She's a conundrum." JJ didn't see any patterns from what she read thus far. "On one hand she's part of an assassin team. On the other, she's giving back to people and leaving clues for law enforcement as if she's actually one of us who's under cover. Are we sure she's not an agent?"

David and Hotch looked to one another.

Hotch thought it was a good point. "She mentioned the Chameleon was CIA."

"Maybe she is an agent we don't know about yet." David shrugged. "I thought this might be possible too. I've talked with a number of my contacts in all the other agencies since this case broke. No one I know can verify it."

"No one knows her true identity." Emily wondered. "Unless the Chameleon figured it out?"

Derek had another theory. "I'll go with my gut and says she playing both sides of the law to avoid detection."

 **INDUSTRIAL WAREHOUSE PARK - WASHINGTON D.C.**

Daniel Saben walked into the warehouse with a bag of groceries. He paused to lock the door from the inside, and continued up the stairs. He sat the grocery bag on a long folding table located in the center of the room. A twin bed beside the table is the only other furniture around him. The remainder of the room is open and well lit. He pulled out a new cellphone, inserted the SIM card, and entered a number to activate it.

He typed in: Connect.

Daniel didn't like being out of contact this long. "Where are you?"

His new phone beeped indicating he got a reply. Checking his watch, the reply came less than minute. That could mean one of two things.

Text read: The old house, Thursday at 11pm alone. I'll know.

Daniel didn't smile at the text, confident that it hadn't been intercepted. The Eyes didn't bother with small talk. Not with so much on the line. He paused before he answered.

"Rolte double cross."

The Eyes replied "He's tracking you."

Daniel shook his head as he knew this already and replied. "Rolte took out Talisman and Deitweiler."

The next text read, "FBI knows of Rolte."

He knew time wasn't on their side. "We're playing a dangerous game."

The text read "Leave the BAU to me."

Daniel Saben sighed and turned off the phone then dropped it on the floor. It clattered but didn't break. Unsatisfied, he walked over and slammed his foot down on it until the device broke into a number of small pieces.

 **BAU QUANTICO – SENIOR ANALYST OFFICE**

There were four simultaneous searches underway in the hum of the darkened office. Penelope Garcia worked at the main station on something new with a recent addition from one of the old photos from a crime scene four years ago.

"This one's different than the others we've found so far." She pursed her lips at the mystery. "This isn't The Eyes or Robin Hood's work." She pondered for a moment then shrugged. "Let's go down the rabbit hole and hope Alice comes back."

The scanner activated, skimming the entire back of the old photo, its evidence bag sitting on the top below it. However, the only interesting data on the photo wasn't data but an invisible photocopy of a news article from years past. It was from a local Maine newspaper as the word was clearly visible at the top. Darkening the article, Penelope brought the clipping into a window on her screen and it enlarged automatically.

She read the article, her eyes widening as she did so. In a flurry of keystrokes, she found the archived article on-line and searched into the names mentioned in the newsprint. Doing a deeper check, she found all the information she needed to make her final conclusion.

Penelope froze in mid-type, her fingers at a standstill. "No, way."

She dialed a number quickly with the end of her pen, a man picking up the other end.

Hotch's voice had an edge to it. "What is it, Garcia?"

"I think I found her…like child found her." Penelope couldn't believe it. "I found an article about a Robin Sarah Hoode from 1982. That's Hood with an E. Apparently, her grandparents, Grant and Martha Hoode were attacked at their ranch in Maine, leaving an 8-year old granddaughter behind. Their bodies were found in a barn on the property after the child flagged down a local patrolman. A copy of the article has been sent to your tablet. It's really a sad tale."

"She used her real name?" Hotch was confused.

Penelope paused. "I'm afraid that's not her real name, Hotch. Upon further digging, it was reported that Grant Hoode lingered in the hospital for six days after the attack before he died. His wife was listed as dead at the scene. In the hospital, Grant admitted to the local LEO's that Robin wasn't his granddaughter but a child they found wandering the back roads covered in blood nine months earlier when they got back from visiting their oldest son at college in New York. They named her Robin Sarah after their youngest child who died at birth twenty years before."

Hotch sounded hopeful on the other end. "Search for any missing persons in that area."

"Already ahead of you." Penelope had sent everything she had to the team already. "None were reported matching the child's description. I'm checking regional and national databases as well. But here's the kicker. Grant Hoode would've survived his injuries had he not been one of the victims of Karen Starth."

Hotch queried. "The Gentry Hospital Angel of Death?"

"Right on one." She nodded even though Hotch couldn't see her. "At the time, the local LEO's didn't know about Karen until after Grant's death. A mysterious tipster called into the hotline and reported seeing Nurse Karen standing with a syringe over a patient in the middle of the night. The anonymous caller also told investigators where to find the evidence that got eventually her convicted."

There was a shirt pause before he answered. "Robin was the tipster."

"She was suspected of being the witness who became the tipster." Penelope continued to abbreviate everything she'd sent him. "The Hoode's planned on keeping the child as they'd been passing her off as their granddaughter from their middle child, Tara. Tara Hoode was a known drug addict and left the family for a boyfriend on the west coast. She was never heard from again and I haven't been able to find a record Tara Hoode anywhere since. Robin lived with the Hoode's for nine months and two weeks in total. In that time, little Robin had tested out of high school at eight years old. Her results were posted all over the local paper. She was known as the Little Einstein by the town." Penelope paused to admire the little girl in the color photo. "Awe, she's so cute in the picture." Hotch cleared his throat to bring her back to the conversation. "Sorry, Robin is listed as having an eidetic memory and her IQ was reported as being off the charts. It doesn't appear any college showed up to recruit her. But that's because Robin was never seen again after Grant Hoode's death. The town looked for weeks which stretched for months with no luck. There had been a number of families who were willing to take her in as well. Robin Sarah Hoode hasn't listed anywhere since 1982."

"This is where she began." Hotch liked where this was going. "Good work, Garcia."

Penelope felt better. "When I find more, you'll get more."

"The question becomes…" Hotch breathed. "Which person is this related to, The Eyes or Robin Hood?"

"Any hacker worth who values their identity wouldn't use their real name." Penelope cocked her head to one side. "This has to be The Eyes, sir. If she was that smart at eight years old, I doubt she'd continue with using a traceable name. If she's working with another person who's taken 'Robin Hood' as their moniker that would give her the ability to disappear while the other was investigated."

"That's how you'd have done it?" Hotch asked.

Penelope paused. "Yes, sir."

"We're one step closer." Hotch hung up

Penelope didn't go back to work right away. She leaned back in her chair, staring at the photo of the smiling little girl who'd finally found a family only to have it taken away from her again. Little Robin probably didn't remember or even know her own blood relatives. Where she'd come from or if she had any remaining family members who were still alive at all.

"I bet you would've stayed with the Hoode's had they lived." Penelope whispered.

She lingered for a few more moments then got back to work.

 **BAU QUANTICO – HOTCHNER'S OFFICE**

Aaron hung up the phone with Garcia when Derek popped his head into the office. Hotch looked up at Morgan, pausing for his report.

"Rolte's vehicle was spotted near the warehouse district by ATM camera." Derek filled the threshold.

Hotch got to his feet immediately. "Anyway to trace him?"

 **BAU QUANTICO – SQUAD ROOM**

Hotch followed Derek out of his office. Descending the stairs, they meet Emily Prentiss, David Rossi, and JJ preparing to leave. Spencer Reid walked through the double doors of the Squad Room, having been summoned from Penelope Garcia's office.

Derek seriously hoped they'd catch all three tonight. "Penelope is trying to track him using cameras in the area but she's not getting much due to the nature of the businesses there."

Emily held up her cellphone. "It looks like the Chameleon and The Eyes planned a meeting despite the Rolte threat after all."

Spencer heard the beep and looked at his phone. "Garcia sent me the coordinates. Rolte's vehicle has been stopped for more than a minute. He's in a warehouse close to the harbor in an industrial park. She'll monitor while we're on our way in case he moves again."

Hotch expected The Eyes to have tipped them off sooner. "When Garcia gives us the coordinates, we'll split into two teams. JJ and Reid with me and Dave, you'll go with Morgan and Emily."

Derek was fine with that arrangement. "There won't be much time for the locals to back us up."

Emily added. "I'll keep in contact with Garcia to narrow down our search area."

 **BAU LEAD VEHICLE – WASHINGTON D.C. STREET**

Spencer continued to read through case files sitting in the backseat in the lead vehicle with the sirens blaring in the background. Hotch drove with JJ in the front passenger seat, her phone constantly being updated by Garcia. He peeled around the corner, knowing Morgan, driving the second vehicle behind him wouldn't have trouble keeping up. An open link remained on between the two vehicles using Hotch's phone.

Hotch dodged a number of cars, blaring through a red light. "This is way too easy."

JJ held his phone steady, her elbow on the center console. "Agreed, Agent Rolte's playing some kind of sick game with them and us."

Spencer looked up from his reading. "He's the one trying to cut the loose ends, not the Chameleon. According to this, no one ever knew who the Chameleon was until about fifteen years ago."

David Rossi spoke loudly from Hotch's phone. "I bet that's when his first handler began their professional relationship with the CIA…"

 **BAU SECOND VEHICLE, WASHINGTON D.C. STREET**

The black government SUV screeched around the curve, its lights blaring loudly to move traffic out of their way. It followed the lead SUV closely, also with their lights flashing to keep traffic flow out of their way. Time was of the essence at the moment. Derek Morgan sat in the driver's seat, Emily Prentiss in the front passenger seat, and David Rossi in the back seat, leaning forward to speak into Morgan's phone.

"…began. There's no way they don't know what's going on right now."

"It's all about that plausible deniability." Derek didn't like tonight's traffic. "Still, we shouldn't have found Rolte this easily."

Emily offered. "Rolte knew the Chameleon and The Eyes would connect eventually. The Eyes has been taking care of the Chameleon for so long, he can't operate without her."

"He's too dependent on her expertise and exit plans." David agreed with Emily on that much. "He may be the sociopath, but The Eyes is the brains of the entire operation. Rolte needs them both out of the way for a clean getaway."

 **BAU LEAD VEHICLE – WASHINGTON D.C. STREET**

Hotch slowed as he approached then cleared the intersection and sped up once the cars got over to the right side. Traffic was heavier than normal this evening.

Hotch replied. "My contact told me that Rolte is coming up for review next month. He expected to be found out by then. His boss was suspicious about how Rolte got assigned to the case."

JJ leaned closer to the phone. "He probably rigged it so the case would fall in his lap. Is he an imposter? Should we be looking for the real Alan Rolte?"

"No, it seems he's using an American alias." Hotch didn't know how many people in the CIA knew about Alan Rolte. "They're not sure if his predecessor was also a Russian spy."

Spencer leaned against the driver seat. "I find this incredibly interesting. Rolte's called this one burner cell number more than forty times in the past month. I sent the number to Garcia to trace."

Derek replied. "It's probably a burner…"

 **BAU SECOND VEHICLE, WASHINGTON D.C. STREET**

Derek maneuver the vehicle around the cars Hotch dodged in the intersection as several drivers didn't know what to do around flashing lights.

"It's probably a burner…" He wasn't getting their hopes up, barely missing the confused driver of the white sedan. "…phone. I don't think they'd use something remotely traceable."

David asked. "He might be communicating with the Chameleon posing as The Eyes?"

Derek nodded, glancing in either direction before crossing the intersection. "That'd be my guess."

"Or he's cloned the Chameleon's phone long enough to get The Eyes number." Emily had decided how she would play this game out before they'd left the office. "If Daniel Saben's smart, he'd had gotten rid of his phone for a burner and then contacted The Eyes with the new number. Rolte's taking a chance he can catch them before they realize he's made them."

David noted. "The Chameleon and The Eyes are still on the same team and know Rolte's coming after them."

JJ's voice came over Morgan's phone. "They have someone else assisting them."

 **BAU LEAD VEHICLE – WASINGTON D.C. STREET**

They were five minutes from the industrial park. Thus far, Rolte's signal hadn't moved since they left the office. Hotch sped up another four miles an hour to make the intersection on a green light. He noted Derek also made the light and kept the car length behind him.

Hotch agreed with JJ. "Robin Hood is merely part of the ploy."

"The red herring if everything goes south." Spencer realized. "The question is, does he know it?"

Hotch's phone beeped, indicating there was a call on hold. JJ pressed the conference button to connect everyone together.

Hotch spoke a little louder. "Go ahead Garcia, you're on speaker."

"The burner phone is active only for short periods of time." Penelope clicked her keyboard in the background. "It was just shut off. But it hasn't moved since you guys left."

JJ confirmed. "Same address?"

"Yes, I will text it to everyone if it changes. You're really close. Be careful, my pretties. I doubt you're alone out there. A lot of the other agents left the BAU about thirty minutes ago. You're secret must be out by now. If Rolte's following you to the Chameleon, so are the others."

Penelope disconnected her end of the call.

 **BAU SECOND VEHICLE, WASHINGTON D.C. STREET**

Derek didn't like the sound of other agency agents descending on their final showdown with the Chameleon, The Eyes, and Agent Alan Rolte.

"Hotch, if the Chameleon and The Eyes have a designated meeting spot Rolte doesn't know about, then he knew how to track them long before we tracked him."

David nodded and realized. "Morgan's right. Rolte may have already been there before the others even arrived."

Emily asked. "So who was the signal Garcia traced to the industrial park?"

No one spoke a word.

 **WASHINGTON DC STREET – LEAD VEHICLE**

Hotch edged the SUV around the curve, entering the its lights blaring loudly to move traffic out of their way. A second SUV followed close behind, also with

Hotch guessed. "The Eyes is guiding us to where she wants us to go. She let us find her because she's been tracking Rolte since before they arrived in D.C. That was the only reason she abducted a BAU agent.

JJ realized. "She was looking for someone outside her circle to trust."

Spencer added. "She already attempted to contact other agencies who didn't pass the test she set up."

Derek sounded annoyed. "So we're just going to let her?"

"At this point, we don't have much to go on." Hotch added. "Let's hope we get there before Rolte finished the job. We'll take the front, you guys take the back."

"Copy that." Emily replied and ended the call on their end.

Hotch cut the sirens and the flashing lights when they turned into the warehouse district to avoid drawing attention to the vehicles. Derek followed suit behind him. No one said a word, anxious as to the situation they had entered. Hotch also cut the headlights when they turned onto the street where the building was located, indicating Rolte was present. The lead vehicle arrived at the front of the building with the address Garcia had sent them. The second vehicle drove to the rear of the building.

The team exited the vehicle and softly closed the doors. Hotch led JJ and Reid, wearing FBI vests with weapons drawn, to the front door of the building. They were surprised to find the door was left unlocked and ajar.

JJ mouthed silently to Hotch. 'The Eyes?'

Hotch nodded and entered the building.

 **INDUSTRIAL WAREHOUSE PARK - WASHINGTON D.C.**

Daniel Saben sat on the twin bed located in the center of the room with the lights lit around the perimeter. He heard an echo of a clank off to his left from the rear of the building. Suspicious of the unusual noise, he pressed a button and the lights went out, leaving the entire building black and cast in shadows. He left the bed and headed off towards the southeast corner located off to his right on silent footsteps.

"Let them chase me." He mumbled.

As he vacated the room, another form arrived in the center. Dressed in black clothing, Agent Alan Rolte surveyed the perimeter of the room. He wore a belt with a gun holster, a knife at his waist, and night vision googles on his head.

"He's on the move." Rolte grumbled. "There's a plan B location."

Pressing his hand over the bed, he noted the center was warmer than the remainder of the mattress. Rolte then put on the googles, activating the night vision capability. He didn't find the Chameleon immediately present in the room but he had been here recently. Within the past few minutes, he surmised. Rolte moved off in the same direction as Daniel Saben had to the southeast corner of the building.

A third form dressed in black watched the two men from above the rafter above the floor, wearing night vision googles.

 **WAREHOUSE – FRONT OFFICES**

Hotch led JJ and Reid through the main front door and began a swift, efficient sweep of the many offices. Each office had to be cleared quickly as time wasn't on their side. They move easily through the vacant offices. However, it took longer than expected due to the number of small offices they had to clear one at a time.

"Clear." Hotch whispered.

He noted that this area of the building wasn't likely to be used by the Chameleon.

"Clear." Spencer whispered, keeping Hotch within visual range.

"Clear." JJ met her teammates in the middle.

Hotch motioned them to continue to move further into the warehouse offices, taking it slower. There was no reason to rush the search or break protocols. The Eyes and Chameleon were too dangerous not to adhere to their training.

"Keep going." Hotch waited in the hall as JJ went right, Reid went left confirming the offices were empty.

 **WAREHOUSE – REAR OF BUILDING**

He pulled the vehicle along the building as close as he could in an area with no windows. The three exited the vehicle, softly closing the doors. Emily and David quickly moved in behind Derek, wearing their FBI vests and weapons drawn, to the other side of the door. Emily Prentiss moved silently to the other side of the door, nodding toward him.

Derek Morgan found the rear door of the warehouse had been left unlocked. Derek looked to Emily, who shared similar suspicions. They exchanged a quick nod with David Rossi, who motioned to enter the building using the hand signal for 'extreme caution.'

Derek whispered. "Expect a trap."

David and Emily both nodded in agreement. Derek used his fingers to count to three before whipping the door open and entering the warehouse building.

 **WAREHOUSE – FRONT OFFICES**

Hotch cleared one office as JJ moved ahead to clear the next. Reid followed JJ to repeat the same protocol as they neared the warehouse portion of the building indicated by a pair of double doors. However, when Reid spotted the map that showed there were four floors to the building: one main floor, a mezzanine, a full second floor, and a partial basement.

The three agents pushed through the double doors to find an empty warehouse encased in darkness. At the far end it appeared there were stacks of boxes and transport containers set in tight rows. To the right was a staircase that led up to the mezzanine level. AH motioned towards JJ and Reid to take the stairs up to the mezzanine. JJ and Reid moved quietly up the stairs as Hotch walked silent but briskly across the open warehouse floor.

Hotch stopped at the first row of stacked shipping boxes. He glanced around him, confident he found nothing out of place then moved to the second row. He slowly turned the corner between the second and third rows and ran into a taser held by a black-clad female form. His eyes widened that he was once again caught off guard.

The black-clad form caught his gun before it fell to the floor. Hotch fell to the floor onto a blanket he hadn't noticed before. Conscious of his surroundings though his eyesight blurred, Hotch noted he was being dragged by two women clad in black.

 **WAREHOUSE - MEZZANINE**

JJ and Reid moved along the row of stacked boxes, JJ on the left side, Reid on the right side, down the length of the building. They made their way down the row between the large wooden boxes not finding anyone or evidence that someone was present in the building.

Spencer whispered. "It's got to be a trap."

JJ nodded and pulled ahead of Reid by a few steps. A sudden motion in the darkness between two boxes caught Reid's attention. He stopped to investigation it further, finding a rat eating a cheese puff on top of the box. When he returned his attention to JJ, he found her suddenly gone.

Concerned, Reid moved quickly towards the end of the row, and found JJ unconscious on a blanket. Spencer turned into the taser held by a black-clad woman. His weapon dropped onto the floor but it hadn't made a sound. He looked down long enough to see the blanket he'd stepped on without realizing it.

The smaller woman pulled JJ across the floor on a blanket. The taller woman pulled Reid on a thicker blanket down the row after the first. They didn't have a lot of time to get things into place.

 **HARBOR WAREHOUSE – REAR OF BUILDING**

Derek Morgan, David Rossi, and Emily Prentiss found several large rooms used for manufacturing immediately adjacent to the entry door at the rear of the building. They stuck together going through each room methodically as a team. Upon the fourth room, they found an area carpet, roughly 6-feet by 10-feet in size, in the center of the empty space. The three BAU agents avoided stepping on the carpet as they moved into the room. Neither BAU agent observed the forms lurking in the shadows waiting.

Derek, David Rossi, and Emily stopped when they hear the sound of a soft current echoing softly in the room. Suddenly the floor was electrified, the area carpet appeared to be the only unaffected area. The BAU agents dropped their guns as their bodies went rigid. Once the current ended, the three agents fell to the floor unconscious.

The lead shadow stepped out from hiding and whispered. "That was easier than I expected."

Two shadows stepped out of their hiding spot and laid blankets down beside the agents. One of the shadows rolled David Rossi onto the blanket and the other began dragging him from the room.

The lead shadow helped roll Derek and Emily onto blankets. "Quick."

Nodding their understanding, a fourth shadow figure entered the room to assist with Derek Morgan's blanket as he was the heaviest of the three agents. The lead shadow dragged Emily Prentiss out of the room quickly.

 **HARBOR WAREHOUSE – CENTRAL, 1ST FLOOR**

The group began to wake up one at a time, their eyes fluttering. Groggy from the assault, Hotch sat up, leaning against the wall of the cage about four feet high. In the corner with David Rossi, he noted that his team had been neutralized. Emily sat near the cage door, her eyes perusing the remainder of the warehouse where they sat in the middle of the empty central area. Hotch followed her gaze to their phones and weapons were stacked about three-feet away from the cage door. Derek woke finding Spencer and JJ are just as groggy as he is.

"You have got to be kidding me." Derek didn't like their situation and pulled on the locked cage door. "I can't even stand in here."

Hotch replied. "None of can, Derek."

Derek rattled the cage once more mad as hell. "We've all been tasered."

Hotch nodded. "It's how I was abducted the first time."

David Rossi appeared calm and collected. "They wanted us out of the way."

Derek glanced around the warehouse. "I'm sure there were three who took us out."

JJ looked frustrated: "I walked right into the taser."

Hotch spoke softly. "They knew we were coming."

David looked around, not hearing sirens. "What about our back up?"

Hotch looked around for anything they could use to escape. "I expect they've been delayed by Robin Hood or Agent Rolte. Reid, are you okay?"

Spencer places his face in his hands. "Yeah, just a few lingering…effects."

Daniel Saben walked up to the cage. "So you're the FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit."

Hotch noted the man looked older than his picture. "Where's Alan Rolte?"

Daniel huffed. "That traitor, I lost him at the other warehouse."

David didn't know where the other warehouse was located. "Agent Rolte wants The Eyes and you dead."

"His real name is Dimitri Kuznetsov, an elite Foreign Intelligence Service agent direct out of Moscow." Daniel shook his head at how this played out. "His father used to be KGB during the cold days. In your language, he is known as the Raging Russian. I've heard stories that his son is worse than his father. They send him out when the best isn't good enough. He's been chasing us for over a year."

Emily used the cage to keep her upright. "Why are the Russians chasing you?"

"The Eyes finds records of many illegal missions covered up by the Russian Foreign Ministry so the United Nations doesn't find out." Daniel swept the warehouse with his eyes. "She hid them among her network of hackers. The Eyes made contact with undercover CIA agents six years ago and passed on the intel to me to give to my CIA contact, Talisman. She wasn't aware I had already made contact with the same agents."

Derek hated spy stuff. "So Kuznetsov is trying to get the intel back that The Eyes stole."

Daniel nodded the agent's presumption was correct. "This is the first time he's gotten this close to us. He followed the CIA agents trail. I told The Eyes it was a bad idea to trust the CIA back then."

"You work for the CIA." JJ confirmed.

"Only on occasion during the early days." Daniel paused, listened then continued. "Once I figured out they were handing me their wet work, I got out of the States."

David realized that the CIA's involvement wasn't as much as Rolte implied. "No wonder they didn't pursue tracking you down."

Hotch offered. "We can help you stop Kuznetsov. Get us out of here."

Daniel trusted the FBI even less than the CIA. "No, it'll be better if you stay here. I've got a plan in place. You FBI agents will only get in the way, as usual."

The BAU agents jumped as a bullet pierced Daniel's head, the blood spattering radially. His body fell backward onto the floor as Alan Rolte descended the metal stairs. He jogged toward the Chameleon's corpse to confirm his death visually. He didn't acknowledge the BAU agents in the cage. Bending over, he dragged Daniel's body into the shadows. After he hid the body, Alan Rolte disappeared back into the shadows.

 **BAU QUANTICO – SENIOR ANALYST OFFICE**

Penelope grew concerned that she couldn't reach the team. She tried to locate each member by pinging their phones. However, someone had engaged a jamming signal at the warehouse. Her concern grew into worry as all of her attempts to locate her team in the industrial district failed.

"This is so not good." Penelope used a number of options in her arsenal to tap into some cameras as the team SUV's passed by along the route.

Penelope rescanned the area for more cameras to piece together their path to the warehouse. However, she found her results to be suspicious.

"Oh, you think you're so smart, don't you. Well, I've got a few tricks up my sleeves Miss Eyes. Something has happened." She dialed a number. "Not on my watch."

A male voice answered the phone on the other end.

"Robin Hood, this is the Black Queen." Her eyes scanned the results of her continuous digital sweep of the cameras, finding and isolating the time frames. "I'm calling to collect on your debt. I've sent you the coordinates for six agent friendlies with two possible hostiles. You know what I expect."

Penelope disconnected the call, chewing on her lower lip, hoping it was enough.

 **HARBOR WAREHOUSE – 1ST FLOOR**

The Eyes walked into the warehouse clad in head-to-toe black, finding the BAU members locked away in the cage. Pausing to make eye contact with each agent, she turned and crossed the room. she walked with an air of confidence and her gait was swift. She veered off into the darkness in the same direction where Rolte had dragged Daniel Saben's body.

Alan Rolte emerged from the shadows behind The Eyes. "Hands up!" Rolte rounded on The Eyes. "This is truly a momentous occasion. I finally get to unmask you after all these years. Finally, everyone will know who The Eyes real identity."

The Eyes reluctantly put up her hands in surrender.

At that moment, eight figures clad in black appeared around them. Rolte, momentarily distracted, didn't notice the remote in The Eyes' hand. She makes the effort to emphasize pressing the single red button in the middle of the device. Rolte's eyes widened as he fell to the floor, his eyes remained open.

There was a loud beeping noise from around the warehouse that grew incessant as the countdown continued.

David Rossi looked high then low, taking the time for a thorough sweep of their surroundings. "That is not a good sound for us."

Derek became seriously concerned. "Explosives? Are they serious?" He rattled the cage, finding it locked, keeping them trapped.

Spencer couldn't see much from his vantage point. "It's most likely to hide evidence."

The Eyes walked to the cage and motioned to the other figures to join her. The team only saw the thick blankets being thrown over the cage, hiding them from view. Hotch looked directly into The Eyes strong feminine eyes. Their gaze remained locked until a blanket completely hides the cage. The Eyes then nodded towards the others. The dark figures back away and The Eyes head perks up at the sound of sirens approaching echo in the distance.

The room suddenly exploded.

 **OUTSIDE HARBOR WAREHOUSE – WASHINGTON D.C.**

Ambulances were parked at angles adjacent to the building, lights flashing as paramedics dispersed into the building. Each ambulance was currently engaged in assessing a BAU member following their ordeal. Emily, Derek Morgan, and David Rossi stood watching a medic check out Hotch, a few scratches on his face. JJ stood nearby on the phone away from the group, giving orders to another agent at the other end. A gurney passed them by with a figure clad in black, the unconscious female face revealed as they rolled by on their way to nearest hospital.

The medic informed his partner. "There are six more victims in the building, all female. We'll need another three teams."

Hotch lifted his head. "There were also two men."

The medic, with 'Ryan Golf' on his nametag, covered the gash over Hotch's left eye with a Bandaid smiled. "We can't say for sure at this time. The coroner's on his way as it's going to take us a while to find all of the pieces. No one say whether they're male or not at this time. It's good that you had those blankets over your cage though."

Derek remembered The Eyes covering the cage with the thick blankets just before the explosion. "She saved us from the worst of the blast."

"The Eyes knew the explosives were there." Emily knew they were lucky.

Spencer, finished being patched up himself, walked over to the others. "Or she set them herself."

David Rossi sighed heavily after escaping another brush with explosives. "We'll have to wait and see if the Chameleon is officially retired."

More medics pass with another female figure on a gurney, rushing to get them into the ambulance.

 **BAU QUANTICO - SQUAD ROOM**

A week later after the eight figures were released from the hospital, the BAU team stares out at the women sitting with various field agents discussing their involvement in the case. JJ, Spencer, and Emily Prentiss stood with Hotch, Derek Morgan, and David Rossi trying to decrypt the message Robin Hood left behind for them to solve.

Hotch knew this ploy was meant as distraction. "He left us eight women with no identities that we can find. No missing persons records, no fingerprints."

JJ didn't understand it either. "It's like they don't exist."

David Rossi was at a loss himself. "Robin Hood protected them well anywhere from a few months to more than ten years."

Derek studied one woman then moved on to the next. "And none of them are talking to us at the moment." He hadn't been able to decipher the code either. "They were kept in the dark the entire time."

"So they'd avoid becoming associated with the crime." Hotch looked to Derek. "And Agent Rolte?"

"He didn't have a chance." Derek shook his head at the level of planning that went into the final confrontation. "The rifle was on remote auto-fire up on the mezzanine. The Eyes lured Rolte to that warehouse and took him out."

David wondered why the elaborate set-up. "Remote fired?"

Emily hadn't seen the handi-work of The Eyes and the Chameleon until now. "The Eyes is the most organized Unsub I've ever seen. Robin Hood convinces eight women to join his cause and then allows them to take the fall when he takes out the former partner and stalker of The Eyes. Something isn't adding up here."

JJ shrugged. "People do things for the simplest of reasons."

Emily wondered the true relationship between The Eyes and Robin Hood. "The Eyes doesn't want to get caught so she brings in Robin Hood to cover her tracks. Brilliant."

"So who are all these women?" Derek shoved his hands into his pockets.

David shrugged this time. "Robin Hood's merry women."

Emily was offended by the premise. "His own personal harem."

JJ looked to the closest woman, in her mid-40's. "I doubt it's a harem in the strictest sense."

Spencer had a theory of his own. "Then why leave all of them behind? Unless Robin Hood intended to leave these women behind for us to find on purpose."

Penelope Garcia entered the Squad Room with a stack of papers in her hands and strolled up to the group of agents standing together. She held up the eight flash drives hanging by lanyards in her hand.

"Because they've all been wronged." She smiled at the agents.

David Rossi looked over at the women talking to agents in various stages of their stories and sighed. "I knew this was going to get messy."

 **THE END**


End file.
